Project: L—A Dark and Mysterious Tale
by Daviot
Summary: I would have posted it earlier (and for that matter, joined FF.net) if such things as Italics and Bold were working. A student with some skeletons in his closet ends up in Nerima's oddest household.
1. Chapter 1: The Exchange Student

**Project: L  
A Dark and Mysterious Tale

* * *

**

**Chapter 1: The Exchange Student**

Ranma Saotome sighed as he sat through his last period class on the third floor of Furinkan High School. He had already counted the white board-style ceiling tiles so many times he lost count. After turning his head to the left and looking out the windows, which showed a sky slowly becoming overcast, he sighed slowly. He despised the last period, because to him, it seemed to stretch on for an unnecessarily long time. And it was Friday. That fact only increased his yearn to leave. The teacher was discussing matters and lecturing about an assignment that was due next Wednesday, history, he thought. He was too tired to really pay attention. Ranma had already completed it, so he started to tune out the teacher and began to daydream, when something finally interesting came into play.

"I would like to announce that this class is getting an exchange student." The statement was met by gasps, mumbles, and general disorder. Hiroshi, one of Ranma's friends, whispered to Daisuke, another friend of Ranma's, "I hope the exchange student's a girl. I need to find a good chick." The section of the class that was of the fairer gender rolled their eyes, or in a few exceptions, gave death stares. The teacher interrupted by clearing his throat. "Hmm-mm! Sorry to disappoint you boys, but the student is a boy." Akane groaned. "His name is…" the instructor paused to check his notes. "…Leif Zahn. He is from the United States, Washington D.C., I believe, and according to what I have heard; he skipped a grade, so I assume he's fairly intelligent," He paused to catch his breath and then continued, "Akane Tendo, I have already talked to your father about this, and we arranged for Leif to stay at your home for the year." A look of surprise combined with chagrin formed on her face. Ranma watched all of this blankly, that fact barely registering. "Here is a letter to deliver to your father from him." He handed the letter to Akane. There were a few murmurs and whisperings as she accepted the envelope feebly.

Dear Mr. Soun Tendo,

I would like to thank you for your support, and for offering a place to stay. I can use an extra room, or whatever you would like me to use. If necessary, I can reimburse you for room and board, and my other expenses. I will arrive this Saturday at 4:00 p.m. from my flight. I have been given instructions on how to get to your home, so please expect me in by 5:30 p.m. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,  
Leif Lewin Zahn  
リフ ルイン ツァン

Soun sat studying the letter, while his daughters and Ranma gathered around the kitchen table. "He will be here tomorrow. Akane, I know that you do not necessarily care for boys, yet I would like you to be polite." She sighed, grimaced, and nodded her head. "So father, what room should I prepare for him?" Kasumi politely asked her father. "You may prepare the second guest bedroom, next to the one where the Saotomes are currently in." She got up and then proceeded to the hall closet.

"You know Akane, for all we know, he may be cute, or he may be a stupid Yank." Nabiki commented as she sat on her younger sister's bed while the latter finished her homework. She swiveled her chair around from her oak desk, turning down the volume of her radio, and then faced her older sister. "Nabiki, thanks for the thought, but the last thing I need right now is another _stupid boy_ around the house." She ended her sentence by going into a small, but noticeable scowl. "Akane, don't be so hard on him; you've never even seen him. Wait until he arrives. Then you can kill him if you want." She grinned.

A distant thunderclap sounded as a light tapping started outside. Ranma knocked on the door, and in a few moments was admitted by the sound of the screen sliding open. "I just heard the weather. The guy says a cold front's moving in from the North. It's gonna be like this all weekend." Nabiki responded, "I take it you're going to be staying inside this weekend, then, hmm? Going to do some more training?" "I don't know. Probably. If I get bored, I could use the practice."

Later that evening, Akane sat lying down in bed, as the light and shadows from outside her window were reflected through the glass and were projected on the floor beside her. "I don't know what this guy will be like. I guess I will have to wait 'til tomorrow. And I hope he's a lot nicer than Ranma, don't you agree, P-Chan?" The pig squealed and nodded. She yawned, and then drifted off to sleep.

Breakfast the next morning was fairly hectic, the rain still softly continuing, Ranma and Akane arguing over an earlier incident involving one particular pet pig, while the latter held P-Chan in her lap defensively; Nabiki talking to Kasumi while she managed her finances via her favorite abacus, and Soun tapping fingers impatiently as he sipped hot coffee. "I can't believe that he will be here in only eight and a half hours!" Soun energetically reported, eyeing the wall clock. "Hey daddy," Nabiki said, "I can understand your excitement, but we have just a little bit of time to use before this Zahn guy gets here." "Oh, well… I guess you're right." Soun relaxed and stopped rapping his fingers on the table, much to the relief of the remainder of the household.

A few hours later, Ranma, now a girl, and Akane went downtown and into a café for lunch. Ranma closed her umbrella and they sat down at a booth with red upholstery and started to think about ordering. Soon, a waiter appeared, holding a white dishcloth. He was tall, with dark ruffled brown hair and a sharp chin, making him look a little imposing. Akane assumed he was a college student, judging by the face. She then decided to have a delicatessen-style sandwich. "And I would like my spaghetti with not too much marinara, but lots of powdered Parmesan!" Ranma enthusiastically told the waiter. As the waiter walked off, Akane heard him mumble something about a "crazy red-head" as he went into the comparatively brightly lit kitchen area. Her face went into a smug grin; shortly thereafter, a slightly perturbed Ran-chan replied with "What are _you_ lookin' at?"

Ranma finished her milkshake with a loud 'slurp' and a quiet sigh. "Hey Akane, if you don't finish your milkshake, I get it!" Akane just rolled her eyes and continued sipping. She turned her head and looked at the overcast sky and listened to the light tapping of rain on the roof of the café. They heard footsteps, and Ranma turned around, and with a sparkle in her eyes, she said, "My spaghetti!" As soon as it hit the table she started in with a fork, nearly impaling the waiter with the implement. The waiter then said, a bit startled, "Geeze, kid, don't eat the plate!" He emptily laughed to himself, took out the receipt, and laid it down on the table before walking off again. Akane plucked the olive from her sandwich into her mouth, and thought, "_I certainly hope this exchange student is better mannered than my fiancé_." Her thought was then promptly interrupted by another loud "slurp" as Ranma finished her spaghetti. "Gee Akane; aren't you going to finish your sandwich?" "Me? Look at you. You finished a plate of spaghetti with sauce before I even took a single bite out of my sandwich!" "Yeah, so, what's your point?"

Ranma closed her umbrella as she walked in the door. "We're home!" she announced. She then promptly walked away to the kitchen to retrieve the trusty teakettle while Akane went upstairs to her room. Nabiki was there, waiting for her, and she immediately started talking. "You know, Akane that Leif will be here in about a half-hour. Let me guess." She emphasized her last comment, paused momentarily, and then continued. "You have already decided to hate him, because he's a boy. Am I right?" "Nabiki, we've gone over this. I already have Ranma. I don't need another boy in this house!" "Relax, Akane. You're not getting another fiancé. And by the looks of his letter, it sounds like he's a lot nicer than Ranma, or at least better educated." "You don't say." Akane gritted her teeth in frustration. "I'm going to the dojo, to brush up." "Fine, whatever." Akane finished a small paper she had been working on, and she went out the door. Nabiki could hear her feet hit the wood floor, as the sound softened away to nothing, the sound of the gentle rapping of the rain flooding out the sound.

A cloaked figure walked towards Nerima. "_I've got to go on, even like this. They would think of it impolite of me to be late._" The figure stopped to rest, and leaned on a staff. The figure shivered in the heavy rain, and continued walking.

"It's a half-hour past five" Soun said, watching the second hand slowly advance with muffled clicks. "He will be here any second, I'm sure!" The rest of his family sat at the table, along with the Saotomes. A sudden DING-DONG! interrupted the rain. Soun shot his eyes in that direction and jumped up at the tone of the doorbell. Nabiki was the first to get up, and she walked to the front door.

Nabiki opened the door to find someone looking extremely downtrodden, tired, and soaking, a large backpack beside him, resting on what appeared to be a hiking staff. "You must be Leif Zahn. Am I right?" The figure, which she now saw more clearly, was a boy around six foot. His head was tilted down from exhaustion; and she could not see his face. All she saw was a silhouette of the face, and a neatly combed, or more precisely, _used_-to-be neatly combed head of red-orange hair. He spoke something as he lifted his head up, to where it could be seen in the porch light. "Yes." Nabiki noticed that the voice sounded like the person looked. "This would be the Tendos wouldn't it?" Nabiki answered with a "Yes." "May I please come in, or may I continue to be beyond drenched and near-pneumatic?"

Leif's hair was so saturated with water that it just ran off him. He was wearing a cotton-knit shirt, and Khaki pants. Nabiki stood with the door open, completely bewildered. "Well?" Nabiki snapped out of her trance, and immediately said "Sure, come on in. Sorry." He walked inside, and she could see him pick up and then wear a framed hiking pack with a waterproof cover on it, and he was carrying two large suitcases in his left hand, and what looked like a staff in the other. She eyed the front gate, and saw that he had closed it behind him.

Soun heard the door close, and he got up to see the exchange student. "Dad, he's here." Nabiki told her father, and then addressed the aquanaut. "Wait a minute. If your flight came in at 4:30, then why did you just arrive five minutes ago?" He answered. "I walked." Nabiki's face went askew, and she walked off, saying to herself, although loudly, "He's either overly polite, or just plain crazy. Maybe both." Soun cut in, bowing to their guest. "By the way, I am your host, Soun Tendo; if I may introduce my household—." Leif interrupted him. "Excuse me sir, but where is your laundry room? I don't want to further drench your floor." "Down the hall, and the first door on your right. It's next to the stairwell." "Thanks." He set down his suitcases for a moment, and leaned his staff against the door of the coat closet. He then picked up both suitcases, but had distributed one to each hand, and proceeded around the corner. Soun then looked at the staff. "What? It's…metal."

Leif set down his suitcases once again, and knocked on the door. No answer, so he twisted the knob and proceeded into laundry room, setting his navy suitcases next to the washing machine. He took off his hiking backpack, after unbuckling the waist strap. He sighed in relief as the almost fifty pounds of dead weight was removed from his back, afterwards, he carefully removed the cover, revealing it dry and safe. "_It's still dry. Good._" He managed a small grin, created by the fact that his reading material and other paraphernalia were unscathed by the water. He saw another door on the end of the room. "_It's either a garage, or…wait, I never saw a garage door on the outside of the house, which means it's probably a bathroom._" He walked over to it and knocked on the door loudly. No answer once more, so he opened it, revealing the smallish bathroom and the simple tile floor it held.

He walked back to the door to the main hallway and opened it. He then spoke fairly loudly. "Mr. Tendo! Would you mind if I took a quick shower?" He heard a "Go right ahead." After Soun's answer, and after locking the hallway door, he took off his soggy clothes and set them in front of the washing machine, and his shoes in front of the dryer. He unlatched one of the suitcases, and locked it upright in a 90-degree angle on the top of the clothes dryer, then proceeded to the bathroom.

A few minutes later, he emerged from the laundry room, hair neatly combed, forming red-orange bangs that rested above his eyebrows. He was in a silken cotton tunic with a small American pop dragon print and cotton slacks, in a light khaki. He was wearing brown leather moccasin-style house slippers, muffling the vibrations of the wood floor. "We're in the living room, if you'd be so kind to join us." He followed the sound of the voice into the room, walking through the soft carpeting, and glanced at the paintings, wall scrolls, and calligraphy that adorned the room, giving it a pleasing oriental style. What piqued his interest was, among the artifacts, there, next to a tall dresser hung a single Norman Rockwell painting he remembered seeing. He looked at it. It portrayed a scene in a narrow alley with a delivery truck stopped by a small bulldog in the middle of the street. "The Roadblock. That's it." Leif stated as his continued to study it as someone addressed him. "Pretty cool painting, huh? Mr. Tendo picked it up a while back. He said it reminded of some of the traffic downtown."

The boy turned around to see a male, about his own age, a bit shorter, but fairly toned and somewhat muscular. He was wearing a yellow-orange T-shirt; it was cotton that had triangular notches cut out of both sleeves. Adding to that was a warm, friendly face, and a head full of bushy black hair that ended in numerous bangs in the front, and a short braided pigtail in the back. Leif relaxed a little bit while Ranma continued. "Name's Ranma. Ranma Saotome." "Hi." Leif's last reply seemed a little unsure, and maybe aloof. Ranma blinked, shrugged, and walked over to a short wooden table "_Cherry, it appears._" He thought, in the middle of the room. He walked over to it, and sat down.

The student eyed the people sitting around the table. There was Soun, who turned about to be about as tall as him, with a dark complexion, black hair, and well-kept mustache. There was the boy he had just met, along with an older man, wearing a white Gi, large thin-brimmed glasses, and a bandana around his head. Across the table from him were three girls, all teenage, the youngest with short almost bluish hair, and a look that seemed to him to be a combination of impatience and chagrin. Sitting next to her was a girl about the same age, maybe older, that he recognized from the door. She had shiny brown hair, parted in the middle, and a look that was friendly, yet smug. The eldest girl, sitting the closest to Soun, looked to be in her early twenties, with long brown hair, and look of motherly warmness radiating from her. After he was finished looking around, Soun started in. "These are my daughters Kasumi, Nabiki, and Akane." They each slightly bowed their heads after being mentioned. And over here are some of my other guests: my good friend, Genma Saotome and his son, Ranma." Genma had a look of pride, and cocked his head at the American, unnerving him, while Ranma sat indifferent. "Pleased to meet you, boy." Leif got up, and politely bowed to them, and then to his host and sat down. Kasumi walked off to the kitchen as the inquiry began.

Surprisingly, Akane was actually the first one to speak up. "So, I hear you're from the capital of the U.S. What's it like?" Leif shook his hands. "Ohh, no, I'm not from Washington D.C., I'm from Washington _State_." Akane said "Ahh." In understanding, while Ranma blink in his standard amount of quasi-confusion, then started in. "Where's that?" "Far North-West, on the Canadian border. It has a climate similar to the one here; maybe a little colder." Leif accepted some tea from Kasumi as she sat down. He sipped it while the hostess passed out servings to the other people seated. "I was born and raised there, although I've gone on vacation all over. Nice place, friendly people." Soun thanked Kasumi. "I'd like to complement you on your Japanese. It is quite good, and you don't have a discernable accent. How did you do that?" He answered his host. "I don't really have a secret on that, other than I've gotten lots of practice, and had several good teachers." He paused.

After the family meeting was adjourned and Genma and Soun had left the room, Leif caught Kasumi as she picked up the tea. "I don't mean to intrude, but why are they here?" Leif quietly asked her. Kasumi then replied. "Ohh. Ranma is Akane's fiancé, so they are living here for the time being." Leif looked at Akane, then looked at Ranma. "_They don't look much older than me, if it all._" "Ahh… Pre-arranged marriage, then." "You nailed it." Akane sighed, then continued. "It _was_ our parents' idea." Ranma agreed with that. "No kidding." "Leif, would you like me to show you your room?" Kasumi asked, ever so politely. "Sure, why not?"

Kasumi lead him to an empty room adjacent to the one where the Saotomes slept. It was a small, but cozy room, with a plain design, and a single box-spring matressed bed in the corner with freshly made sheets. Kasumi set down a towel and a glass of water on the small dresser and said, "You must be tired, so feel free to hit the sack whenever." "Thanks." He set down his suitcases next to a short dresser next to the bed, and placed his backpack on the bed.

Downstairs, he saw Soun reading, and Nabiki watching the medium size television in the corner of the living room, the one he had apparently overlooked. He glanced at the screen, and saw that a stock report was on and Nabiki was reclined in a bean bag chair, with a legal pad and a pencil, and was apparently taking notes. Ranma was reading a manga at the table, and he walked over and sat down next to him. "That girl over there, Nabiki. She's really intense into that stock info. Is she planning on being a stock broker, or an accountant?" Ranma looked up, cocked an eyebrow, and replied. "Yeah, either that, or a loan shark. She's good at that."

"Ranma, you're a martial artist aren't you?" "How'd you know?" "One, your muscle tone. That, and when I was walking here, I noticed what appears to be a dojo attached to the side of the house. I just assumed you'd be most likely to use it. Oh, and another thing…" Ranma stopped. "A guy I passed was mumbling about you. I asked him about it, and he seemed ridiculously angry at you for some reason. He kept on blabbering incoherently that because of you, he was doomed to hell or something like that. Then he asked me if I knew where Nerima was. I pointed in the direction I was going, he thanked me…but the really weird part was he then started heading in the opposite direction." Ranma looked at him. "I think I know who you're talking about. What'd he look like?" "About your height, a muscular build, he was wearing a bandana like a headband, yellow shirt, black pants with yellow straps, holding a large, red bamboo umbrella."

"His name's Ryoga Hibiki. He used to be an old classmate, but after some minor stuff, he vowed to kill me, and made trying to do it his hobby." "That's kind of odd. I don't know if you know, but I also, have a little bit of training in martial arts, for self-defense and such. Do you practice karate?" "It's kempo, and it's my family's specialty. What do you do? And what was that bo thing you had?" "I'll show you." Ranma blinked a couple of times in confusion as Leif walked out of the living room, heading towards the front door.

As Leif reached the front door, he eyed the familiar reflectiveness of the metal staff, leaning against the door handle of the coat closet, and picked it up. He gave a hardly noticeable smile as he did, and walked back to the living room.

Ranma was there still, a couple pages ahead in the manga he was reading. Leif looked at it, holding the staff diagonally in his right hand and the pig-tailed boy realized his manga was being kibitzed. "You wanted to see this, I suppose?" Ranma looked at the cylindrical metal object that was well over six feet in length, with a dulled silvery finish on it. Leif handed it to him. "Whoa… Cool." Ranma was rather startled at how light the staff was. He stood up, and gently and carefully twirled it slowly. The object that looked like it weighed forty or fifty pounds only weighed, at most, a couple of pounds. And yet, it felt extremely sturdy. He lifted his knee, and placed the staff on it, perpendicular to his thigh and pressed down on both ends very gently, then slowly increased the pressure. It flexed very slightly, but it did not yield to the force he applied.

"Hey, this is like those, uh, what-ya-ma-call-it… tennis rackets!" Leif cocked his head slightly. "Sort of, it's more metal than anything. It's a lightweight titanium alloy, smelted with iridium and osmium. Most tennis rackets are carbon fiber, but I didn't want it, because although carbon fiber is strong and light, it breaks really easy." Ranma blinked, the previous few sentences flying completely over his head. "Wait, you can **buy** these things?" "No, I had it custom made a long time ago. I use it for two things. Hiking, and my martial arts specialty." "Which is?" Leif grinned smugly. "Tibetan Staff Fighting." Ranma cocked his gaze out towards the patio. The rain had stopped, but the sky was still overcast. "That's also kinda weird. Say, you up for a match?" "Na, no thanks. You're probably way better. I've only been doing this for a few months, and you've probably done karate all your life." "Uh-huh…are you sure? Or are you just being a girl?" Ranma gave a bit of a smirking grin at that, as Leif's eyebrow started to twitch. "Alright, Saotome…You're on."

Ranma and Leif walked to the back patio. Ranma slid open the door, revealing the back yard, a cherry tree to the right, and the large Koi pond, which was bordered by a loose ring of stones. Leif walked out with his staff, using it in the hiking variant. He drew it diagonally as Ranma went into a defensive stance. He paused and looked at the sky, and saw lightning, then heard the soon accompanying thunderclap. The rain may have stopped for the moment, but it would probably return very soon. The two boys stood for a moment, and then the fight began.

Ranma lunged forward with a hard right-handed punch, which Leif easily blocked with his staff. Ranma yelped a little "oww", and shook out his fist. Leif stood solemn and ready with his staff held in both hands. Ranma sped up his punches, getting a feel for Leif's skill, to which Leif blocked each punch, barely breaking a sweat. Ranma then ducked, and executed a low sweeping kick, to which Leif back-flipped out of the way. Ranma jumped back and stood breathing just slightly heavier. He looked up and concentrated, then executed a series of quick punches, changing the target area with each, started high, going low, to mid, back to low then high again. Leif tried to block, but he was hit quite a few times. They were light enough that it really didn't do much damage, although they did lower his stamina. He jumped backward as Ranma advanced forward.

Leif immediately spun his staff into a fast windmill, blocking only about half of the punches Ranma then executed. Leif coughed as his chest tightened, and pulled back. Ranma also pulled back as well, as when he drew back he examined his fingers to find one of his knuckles with a small scratch, which was bleeding. He took out some cloth and wrapped his palm in it to stop the bleeding. Leif yelled as he lunged forward, hitting Ranma square in the stomach with the tip of his staff, before his attention could be put back into the fight, instantly knocking the wind out of him. He then came forward, grabbed Ranma, and using his staff, he flipped him over his staff, and then threw Ranma a good ten feet, skidding him into the pond, leaving a trail of wet grass that instantly became scented.

Ranma stood up out of the water, now the cute and busty redheaded girl version of himself. "Hyyah!" Leif stood a bit dazed and pointed at the soggy girl standing in front of him. "Who… are _you_? What… happened to Ranma?" The brazen girl yelled her response. "I am him, stupid! Besides… who said this fight was over!" Ranma jumped directly up out of the water. Leif jumped up to meet her in midair, using his staff to pole-vault upward. Ranma kicked in mid-air, and threw some more punches. Leif was hit hard, and knocked upward. Ranma, on the other hand, noticed she was far from the edge of the pond, and fell splashing back into the pond. Leif, much to his displeasure, realized the same. He yelled as he fell, then rotated his staff, and did a handstand.

Leif stood precariously balancing, one inch of space between his bottom hand and the water. He stood there on the precarious perch, and then collapsed out of exhaustion into the pond. He waded to the edge of the pond, got up, and sat down on the grass. "And I just took a shower." The redheaded girl walked over to him, cocked her head upside down, and asked him, "You okay?" He looked up, sighed, and replied tiredly, "Yeah." "He paused, and examined the girl. "Ranma, you're… a girl? How'd that happen?" The girl sighed then explained. "It's an ancient Chinese curse I got because of my dumb old man that changes me into a girl with cold water. Warm water un-does it." "Bummer. I bet causes some problems." Ranma scowled. "No kidding. And all he turns into is a panda."

They shook hands, and walked towards the house. Thunder sounded, and it began to rain. Leif and Ran-chan were immediately re-soaked, their faces drooping. The two strolled back into the house, the rain now down-pouring.

Kasumi walked to the ledge of the house with the two sitting, and with the tea kettle she had in her hands, she poured out hot water on the red headed girl's head. Ranma, now a bit manlier, got up and glanced at the exchange student, a light grin manifesting itself.

Nabiki, once again in Akane's room, was talking to her younger sister. "I don't know why you're so angry Akane. He's fairly good looking. And, he's polite." Akane let go of some of her tension and replied, "Well… I guess you're right, for once." Nabiki scowled for a second. "Perhaps you should have been engaged to him." Akane's pencil promptly snapped in half.

Ranma knocked on the door to Leif's room. No answer. He opened the door to find the lights on. Leif was fast asleep, still in his somewhat (newly) wet clothes, lying on top of the bed. "_Jet lag._" Ranma thought. "_He still managed to put a fairly good fight. This guy's pretty good. Not that I was even trying, but hey, he's better, than say, Kuno._" He walked to door, turned off the lights, and went out the door, closing it behind him.


	2. Chapter 2: Another Explanation

**Chapter 2: Another Explanation**

Sunday morning came fairly quickly for Leif Zahn. When he woke up, he looked at his watch to find SUN-8:37. He got up, a little stiff, mostly in his neck and arms, and put on a loose blue shirt, his favorite black leather jacket, khaki slacks, and proceeded to walk downstairs. Only Kasumi, Ranma, and a boy whom Leif had never seen before were there.

Leif eyed the new boy, who was wearing a blue school uniform with what looked like a bandolier on it. Leif took a closer look, and found him to have a long brown coffee-color ponytail. When he looked at his face, he saw that it was soft and rounded, eyelashes slightly too long, and saw that this person's upper chest was slightly too large. "_A girl in what appears to be a boy's uniform. Interesting._"

Ranma stopped his conversation with the person and welcomed him. "Hey Leif, what's up?" "Not much," he replied, "Just getting some breakfast." The girl snuggled up to Ranma. "So Ran-chan, this guy is the new student?" These actions confirmed Leif's hypothesis. He replied with a standard "Yup." Leif sat down next to Kasumi at the table, and was kindly handed a cup of oolong tea, which he blew on, cooling it. "Leif, this is Ukyo, one of Ranma's friends." He sipped the tea then quickly set it down, as it had burned his tongue. "Pleased to meet you, _miss_ Ukyo." "Sharp, and astute, I see, captain obvious. You're gonna' be going to Furinkan aren't 'ya?" "Yep. Transferring during the year isn't what I call smart, but oh well." He turned his glance to Ranma, while Kasumi headed back towards the kitchen. "I'm in your grade, I assume?" "Last time I checked." Leif sipped his tea, and after checking the temperature, started to actually drink it. "Ukyo, pardon me for asking, but I would thought the girls' uniform for Furinkan would have been with a skirt, instead." She nonchalantly cocked an eyebrow. "Sugar, this ain't the uniform for Furinkan. This is the boys' uniform from my previous school." "Oh. Why do you have the… male variant?" "It was a _boys'_ school, and I don't really like women's clothing. Too darn uncomfortable." Leif set down his cup and saucer and began talking. "I could vouch for that. I hate loafers. Hurt my feet. I'd prefer a pair of tennis shoes any day." Leif finished off his tea as he held out the rimless cup, inspecting the inside bottom rim for any of the liquid. Satisfied, he set the cup down and headed off to the kitchen.

Kasumi was in there, mixing batter for something. Leif peered over the sink, and through the window and saw the dreary, almost black overcast sky. It was sprinkling, and increasing gradually in intensity. "I thought, that for breakfast, you might like something that you would familiar with, Leif." He turned his glance from the window to Kasumi, spatula in hand, mixing the batter, with her turned toward him. She had a genuine, warm smile that made him relax slightly. "Is that what the batter is for?" "Yes." She replied. "It's pancake batter." She ducked down and brought out a large iron griddle, and started warming it. Leif turned around and started to walk back towards the table. Nabiki was coming down the stairs, slightly clumsily and not yet fully awake. Still in her pajamas, her hair was askew, with a few rats' nests in it. She stopped at the bottom to stretch out her arms and yawn. She then sauntered towards the downstairs bathroom, a brush in her right hand. She didn't even notice him.

Leif, who was at the bottom of the stairs watching, then went up them. The brown lacquered wood paneling gave slightly as he stepped on it, and he proceeded to the far room where he slept. He flicked on the light with a diminutive click, and opened the blind, finding the rain hitting at a slight angle so that it met the glass and ran off. The overcast sky just hung in the air—nonmoving, silent, and stealthy. He stared at it for a while, and then went to rummage through his bags.

He took the dark blue suitcases filled with clothes, and easily filled the small bureau that was across the room, and unzipped his framed pack. He frowned as he took out one of his magazines that had arrived at his house in Washington shortly before he left. The magazine was a monthly travel guide that he had yet to read past the cover. The top-right corner had been bent, and he tried repeatedly to straighten it out, but to no avail. He sat down on the bed, and thumbed the front index.

Travel Adventure Monthly Volume IV Issue V  
Legends of the Orient 4  
Traveling the Great Circle National Parks 12  
Saskatchewan's Magnificent Lakes 21  
The Swiss Alps by Railway 29  
Hiking Japan's Evergreen Forests 37  
Departments 45

The first article's title looked interesting, so he went to the next page. It was on the right side, across from the letters to the editor on the previous page. He skimmed them over, seeing the typical type of letters that the magazine had. A thanks for an article on Venice, a request for something on the Greek Isles… Nothing on that page caught his eye, so he proceeded to what sparked his interest in the first place. The page had the standard two-column format, although it had an interesting background, a painting in the style of Japanese tapestries. "_More fairy tales than anything_." He decided. The first part was on some hydra-like legendary dragon; the second on some werewolf thing in Beijing, but the final section caught his eyes. "_Enchantments and Legends of the North Himalayan Mountains_._ Hmm_…" A slight smile crept across his face.

Akane Tendo woke up to a "Bwe, bwe?" She blinked her eyes, the phosphenes slowly fading away to see her little black pig on top of the covers. "Urrawww!" She yawned, stretched, then looked at the cute porcine on her bed. She smiled. "Good morning, P-chan." She scratched him behind the ears, then got up and swung her feet off the edge of the bed, moving the covers. The piglet, confident that his first important task of the day was complete, hopped off the bed, walked over the door, and pried it open from a small crack to a pig-sized space using his snout. "Breakfast!" She heard her oldest sister call, as the aroma of something cooking lazily drifted its way up the stairs and into her room. "I'm coming!" she replied. She slipped her feet into her house slippers and got up, heading downstairs.

Leif was disappointed by the article. Its title was more interesting than its actual contents, which in his opinion were both a bad choice, and unbearably and ludicrously bland. "_Yeti…that's very unlike them, too._" He closed the magazine just in time to hear the call to breakfast. He sat the magazine on the bed, and got up. He checked the other upstairs rooms, finding no one still there. He walked down the hallway, and carefully walked down the stairs. Looking down, he now noticed how short they were, obviously made for people with smaller feet. He turned to his right as he walked down the stairs, noticing a huge panda walking into the door to the laundry room. "_How very odd. I wonder if that's Ranma's fath_—." That distraction proved fatal. On the third step from the bottom, his right foot slipped from underneath him, his sock losing traction, while his left foot snapped left with a loud cracking sound, falling down the stairs with an enormous crash. "Eggg," he muttered.

"Zahn, you're a _bigger_ klutz than Akane." Leif painfully pivoted his face up to see Nabiki Tendo with a half-annoyed, half-amused look on her face. He weakly whimpered "Sorry. Should have taken off my socks." It was a good thing he had worn his favorite jacket, or else the rug burn would have multiplied the damage. He tried to turn to roll over, but his left side surged with a rush of pain. He inhaled through his teeth, and gave a painful "Ah-hhh." He sighed. "I can't get up, at least, without hurting myself further."

Leif saw Akane appear behind her sister. "I would watch who you call a klutz." Kasumi, walked in, drying a dish with a white cloth, when she saw him. She gasped, and rushed back into the kitchen. Nabiki rolled her eyes, and smirked. "I wasn't talking about **you**, Akane." "I know, just don't try to use me for comparison when I'm within earshot." Nabiki replied with a witty "Sorry, just habit." "Kasumi rushed back in the room with a gauze bandage, an ice pack, and a first aid kid. "Leif, are you all right? Can you get up?" A little more confident, he wailed "No." Akane then asked him, "How on Earth did you do that?" She looked at him and cocked her head. "And why is your left foot twisted that far? Shouldn't that hurt?" "Nope. My left foot is totally numb." The younger continued. "How can your foot rotate _that_ far counter-clockwise?" He swallowed, then replied, "I think that's because it's dislocated." The middle Tendo chuckled. "At least you're in good spirits. You don't whine like Ranma. Come on Akane, you grab _Mr_. _Graceful_ under his arms, I'll get his waist." "Fine." They hoisted him up, and rotated him so that he was on his back, and leaned him against the bottom of the stairwell, next to the door to the laundry room door. Kasumi brought in a cushion for him to set his left foot on, and he relaxed. "Do you need anything?" "Not really." She smiled that warm smile, and that made him creak a smile. She then walked up the stairs behind him. Leif grinned. "_Man. I'm a dork. First full day I'm here, and I can't go two and a half hours without grievous self-injury._"

"Hello?" Leif heard a male voice coming from the front door. He looked up to see a young man with a wiry build, maybe mid-twenties, wearing small, round-brimmed glasses and traditional clothing. "Ah, so you're the new kid, eh? Welcome to Nerima." "Thanks." He replied, trying to hide a tinge of sarcasm. The man held out his hand. "I'm the local chiropractor, Doctor Tofu Ono. And may I say, that's a _nasty_ fall you must have had." He chuckled lightheartedly. Dr. Tofu took the sock off the foot, revealing a slight cherry hue around the anklebone. He then grew more serious, but still soft in voice. "Hmm…doesn't look broken, but…" He ran his fingers over the joint. "Dislocated! Amazing." He paused. "You know, Leif, you're really lucky. It should have at least fractured. Can you feel anything?" He ran his thumb over the Achilles tendon. He grimaced. "I'll take that as a yes. Now hold still." "Ahh!" Leif yelped. He looked down, and saw he could move his toes again, and his foot was aligned. "Now, you just need to keep it like that for about another twenty minutes, and should be back in business, kiddo." He grinned. Leif looked at him, and matched it with a grin of his own.

Leif then saw Kasumi walk back in and smile. "Oh, Doctor Tofu! You relocated Leif's foot! Thank you!" Leif watched Tofu's face confusedly as the man went into a strange stupor. He turned around, dropping Leif's foot onto the floor paneling, landing on the wood paneling with a loud crack. "Err.." Dr. Tofu turned around, and placed his right arm behind his head, almost in shame. "Why…Kasumi! What a coincidence to find you here of all places! I um…finished his foot." He got up, and started slowly walking. He continued, still with that crazed voice. "…and I must be going now. Got lots of work left to do today!" He then proceeded in a straight line—directly into the wall. Kasumi chuckled. Dr. Tofu laughed at himself, then, with more bumbling, managed to somehow miss the painting and metal etching on the wall. Kasumi giggled and walked back into the kitchen. And to Leif's surprise, Dr. Tofu's stupor faded _almost_ as quickly as it began. Once he snapped back to reality, he asked Leif a question. "Would you have any idea why it didn't break or fracture? Do you take gymnastics, or did you injure the area previously?" Leif thought for a moment, and then replied. "Now that I think about it…I did sprain my foot _really_ badly back several months ago. It never healed quite right either." Tofu considered this. "Well, there seems to be no permanent damage, Leif, but you may have a little bit of a limp for a couple of weeks." Leif smiled, cocking an eyebrow. "I think I can handle that." "Good!"

Tofu helped Leif to his feet, and although it felt awkward, he found that he could use his left one without physical discomfort. He tried pacing back and forth. "Wow…this is great, Dr. Ono." "Tofu—just Doctor Tofu." Leif smiled as he heard footsteps and turned around to see Genma, still in that bandana, carrying a bowl of potato chips. The elder Saotome shifted his glasses and pompously gave a short oration. "Boy, Doctor Tofu is an expert at the art of acupuncture and is a superb chiropractor. I know this, as my son often visits him, normally after insulting Akane a bit too far." He munched on a chip, as Dr. Tofu modestly downplayed Genma's description. Genma then proceeded past them into the living room, with his precious snack item. Dr. Tofu then checked his watch. "My next appointment is in 15 minutes, so I'll head back to my office." He reached into his pocket, and handed Leif a card. He looked at the business card, flipping it over. "That's my card. My office is about three blocks from here, so if you need to talk to me again, either look me up in the White Pages, or ask Ranma." "Thanks." "No problem. 'Til we meet again, Mr. Zahn." He opened the front door and left. Leif looked over the card. He put it in the right pocket of his leather jacket, and zipped it.

"Pass the syrup, will you, Leif?" Nabiki Tendo's foxy eyes betrayed her otherwise patient look. "Sure." He pushed up his jacket sleeve, and picked up the clear pitcher, being careful not to touch the bead of syrup dripping down it, and handed it to her. Soun cocked an eyebrow, and his dark moustache twitched. "Feeling better, are you?" "Um… yes sir." "Ahh, that's good to hear." He then went back to eating, stuffing his forked slice into his mouth. Akane swallowed her bite of food, then turned to Leif. "You're starting school tomorrow, aren't you?" "Yeah, why?" "Well, then you'll need to shop for a uniform today, then." "Oh, okay." "We can head downtown after breakfast, if you like." "Are they hard to find, or something like that?" "No, you just need someone who knows what Furinkan requires: What colors, what style of shirt… That sort of thing." Ranma looked over, annoyed. "And what makes you think I don't know that?" Akane's voice rose further. "Well, for one, you _never_ wear the school uniform. I don't know _how_ you get away with it, but you do!" Ranma just rolled his eyes. "Fine. Whatever." Leif munched his pancakes.

Kasumi picked up the plates and walked back into the kitchen that she almost inhabited. "Ready to go, boy?" Ranma looked up from the TV set. "Ready to go _where_, pop?" Genma sneered a little bit. "Where do you think, son? A _true_ martial artist must be ready for all situations, all trials. How do you expect yourself to be ready, if you haven't practiced in a week and a half? I had guessed the rain would have given you ample opportunity." Genma crawled over to Ranma and poked him in the chest. "You aren't going soft, are you? Or has that Chinese girl's wicked ways caused your sloth?" Ranma's face bent. "I doubt it, dad. I haven't seen anything of her in three weeks. But, if you're _sooo_ worried about practicing, I'll do some." "Good." The Saotomes got up, the younger a little hesitant, and headed towards the dojo that was connected with the house. Leif, feeling extremely awkward, had found the perfect excuse to escape. "Well, I guess I should brush my teeth, to get out the syrup." Leif silently got up. Nabiki watched him for a moment, then went back to her most-important and ever-present abacus.

Leif was certainly more careful going up the stairs, and wasn't wearing socks, which helped immensely. His gait was a bit more wary, as he carefully watched the stairs. He dug through his bag, finding his toothbrush, comb, and toothpaste. He grinned, and then proceeded down to the laundry room. When he got there, he shifted all his items to his left hand, and knocked loudly on the door to the room. "Hello?" No response. He opened the door to find no one there. He walked over to the bathroom door and repeated this. The same occurred, and he walked on in. He turned the right handle, running his white toothbrush through it. He quickly brushed his teeth, then once again ran the toothbrush through the water. He set it aside, and got his black handled comb. He combed through his fiery orange hair, cringing slightly whenever he hit a rat's nest. He had to look in the mirror several times because of the peculiar way the light reflected off his hair. Satisfied, he checked his shirt's collar, and walked out, then remembered he forgot his toothpaste, turned around, walked back in, grabbed it, and then left.

"So, are you ready to go?" Akane cocked her head at the wild-haired youth. She had changed into a simple, blue dress. "Yeah, I think so. How much is this going to cost?" He checked his wallet. Akane replied, "Well, ninety-five hundred yen should more than enough pay for a single set." "I think I can handle that." Leif checked his watch. "It's half past noon as it is." "Then, let's go, silly." She walked to the front door, slid it open, and still in her half-marching gait, paraded down the front steps and toward the gate. Leif followed after blinking a few times.

As it turned out, the department store they went to was only eight blocks away. Leif had never really noticed it, as the Tokyo suburb was so clouded with homes, alleys, and trees that it obscured the downtown regions, especially since it was only one floor. The electronic "ping" sound chimed when Leif opened the door. "May I help you, sir?" Leif looked at the woman sitting behind the counter. She was around thirty, shiny black hair, with octagonal thin-rimmed glasses that were quite thin. "_She looks like a librarian_." "May I help you?" "Ahh…" Leif's brain dropped out of daydream mode and back into realspace. "Er…Yes, I mean, yeah! I'm an exchange student, and I need a uniform for Furinkan High." She eyed him. "Uniforms are over behind my shoulder, to the left." Leif let out a large sigh. Today had not been going well. He had already had a major grievous injury, and just made a fool of himself in front of the thirty or so people shopping there. "_Great_. _I'm doing good today_."

He walked over to the section of racks, with Akane following. "Akane, what color do I need?" She thought for a moment. "Let's see…for boys it's…'Royal Navy', I think. You know, that really dark blue?" "Yeah, I got 'ya." He searched through the racks, and managed to find some excellent slacks in that color, that after trying them on fit perfectly. "Are you sure you like those? Look at the price." Leif picked up the tag and turned white. "Eeep! They're eight thousand, _by themselves_! Leif quickly changed out of them, dusted them off, and nonchalantly (almost whistling) hooked them back on the rack with the rest of that brand's area.

He had trouble finding any other pants in his size range, other than some others in the first brand (unfortunately, in the same price range as well.) he had found. Everything thing else was way too short. "_I guess no one here is over five foot five_." Finally, Akane found something. "Hey Leif, is this the right size?" She held out a pair of navy pants that look much longer than any he had seen. "Let me check…Yeah, hey this _is_ the right size!" She handed it to him, and he tried on. It fit just as well as the first, with the price being much less painful. "And for the shirt?" Akane responded. "Same color, long sleeves, with a collar that's white lined on the inside part." "Hmm… like this one?" She eyed the shrink-rapped navy shirt he held up. "Yeah. I'll need to measure your neck first, though." She got out a small rope-like measuring tape out of her right pocket and put it around his neck. "Wow." "What?" "Well, for someone as tall as you are, you've got a really skinny neck. That shirt you have is okay on the standard size and sleeve length, but the neck is three sizes too large." "Harrumph. Just what I need. Looks like another wild goose chase…"

"That'll be nine thousand, two hundred yen please." He handed the librarian… err… saleswoman the money. Leif prided himself in having exact change. He had picked two pairs of pants, consequently, the only two in that length, two of the shirts, and a nice belt. He already had qualifying shoes in one of his suitcases. He picked up the bag for the purchase and walked alongside Akane on the way home. "Anything I should know about? Weird rules, class psychopaths, anything of that nature?" Akane sighed, giving an explanation she dreaded. "Funny you should mention it. There is this one guy. The captain of the Kendo club and fencing team, who believes himself to be a samurai." "Great." "He's quite skilled, to top it off. And, he'll hate you." "What? How do you know this in advance? Does have a vendetta on foreigners?" She shook her head. "He's obsessed with me, even though I'm engaged to Ranma. This guy believes Ranma is some black magician, or something. That, and if he knows you live in the same household with the guy he hates, and the girl he wants—." Leif interrupted. "I get your point. So, what's this guy's name?" "Tatewaki Kuno."


	3. Chapter 3: You Will Address Me As

** Chapter 3: You Will Address Me as _Upperclassman_**

Leif's watch awoke him with a high-pitched, artificial "scree" sound. "_Ah, man…I **hate** that thing. Why can't it chime, or beep?_" Leif rolled over, and reached out his hand for the device. He could not find it by running his hand over the bookshelf, and finally got up. "_Wait a minute…_" He looked at his left wrist. He was still wearing his watch. He unlatched the band and pressed a button on the side. The incessant sound finally ceased. It read MON-5:30. Yesterday had been a long day, but a good one. Last night he had gotten to take another shower, this one full length, much to his relief. He had his clothes for the morning set out. Leif got up and stretched, with a slight pop, and found his fuzzy slippers. He checked his backpack, then zipped it up and set it in the corner. He slid the small closet open to find his spoils of the previous day's activities. The boy readily snatched the first shirt and pair of pants from the hangers, but was careful enough to make sure the hangers stayed in the closet. He took off his T-shirt and placed on the newer navy garb. He cinched up the belt and walked outside the doorway. Something caught his eye. He looked down to see a small, dark brown bag sitting outside his doorway with a note attached to it. He snatched it.

Dear Leif,  
Sorry I forgot to tell you, but last night a messenger from the school dropped this off for you. He also gave me some of your records and papers to put inside it. I thought that was nice of him to take time out of his schedule, don't you? Also, I put a few pencils, a black roller pen, and a red pen for school inside the front flap. Enjoy your first day!  
—Kasumi

"_Well, that's…nice._" He picked it up, folded the note and placed it into the same pocket as the styli he had been informed about. He set it back down, then checked his room. He grabbed his comb, and closed the door behind him. He grabbed the book bag by the handle sewn in on the top, and quietly headed downstairs, watching the narrow stairs as if they might bite him.

Nabiki was happy. Her dream of owning the world's most formidable business empire was finally coming to fruition…_until_ she smelled an omelet cooking. "Whum?" She yawned, and blinked. "Mmm… Kasumi must be up. What time…is it?" She rolled over, and glanced at the hands of the quartz clock sitting across the room from her. "Five thirty-five? Since when is Kasumi up this early?" She yawned and ran her fingers through her long brown hair. She somehow managed to get her feet into her slippers, and made a feeble attempt at standing up. "How on earth does Kasumi manage this? Anyone else would either go back to sleep, or go crazy trying to keep up." Her mumbling slowly changed to her standard witty tone as she finished her sentence. She blinked once more and walked down the stairs.

Nabiki passed by the kitchen. "Hi Kasumi." Nabiki kept walking. Then the thought registered in her mind. Kasumi _had not_ answered. She quickly backed up, and found the source of the aroma. After glancing at him, she started her rant softly, from the doorway. "Leif, what are you doing?" He turned around. He had a spatula in one hand and a medium-small skillet in his left. He _was_ cooking the omelet. "Cooking breakfast for myself. Why? Did you want something?" Nabiki cocked her head, her bangs lagging shortly behind. "A few things. Since _when can you cook_? And why the heck are you up, _this_ early?" He clinched his eyes down a little bit, and answered. "If you had paid attention, I like to go camping. When you camp, you have to know how to cook, or you don't get food. And why _aren't_ you up earlier? School starts at 7:30." Nabiki walked in the kitchen. "Careful. You don't want that to scorch." He shut off the burner. "Leif, a little thing you should know. School starts at _8:30_. Not at half past seven. Secondly, you shouldn't cook _just_ for yourself. In this household, people who wake other people up and haven't cooked for them often have a habit of ending up face down in a gutter, somewhere in Okinawa, with a grapefruit spoon shoved through their chest." "And why should this matter?" She eyed him. "Well, except for the school part…it doesn't, although you might want to pay attention to your omelet, before it any more of it disappears." She was munching something as she said this. Leif glanced down at the skillet to his left. A corner was missing. "Alright. Do you want that one, then?" Nabiki smiled. "Well… now that you mention it…"

Breakfast had gone well, with him unexpectedly cooking omelets for the entire residence, except for the strange and unnerving fact that Mr. Saotome had been a panda for breakfast. "_Where in the world would Kasumi get that kind of bamboo? Especially, since I thought pandas only like a couple of kinds of it._" Leif, clad proudly in his new uniform, was walking down the alleyway that led to the school, with Ranma and Akane far, far behind him. He liked it that way; he stayed out of their crossfire. His hair was combed, his shirt unwrinkled, he had his book bag, his staff, and a note signed by Dr. Tofu explaining to his teachers what occurred the previous day and why he needed it. At least his ankle didn't hurt _that much_ anymore. "Well, if you had listened to me in the first place…" Leif turned around, and walked slowly backwards. "You? Listen to you? And _what would you_ know?" "A lot more than a stupid un-cute girl like you!" "Oh, _yeah_?" After hearing a loud splashing sound, Leif simply shook his head and walked on.

"Doing any better yet?" Dr. Tofu was sweeping the front step of his office. "Yes sir." The doctor smiled. "Well that's great. If I were you, I'd use that staff of yours for about a week. If any of your teachers give you trouble, just have them call me, okay?" Dr. Tofu did that same grin again. "Okay." Dr. Tofu's glance shifted to something behind the student. Leif turned to see a very sour-faced redhead walking by, staring at any equally angry Akane. "You know, it's your own fault, Ranma. You know that woman splashes water outside her house every day." The pouting spitfire rebuked the statement. "Be quiet." The minx headed by Dr. Tofu and into his office. "Ha ha! That Ranma, always giving you a hard time, isn't he?" The man smiled. "Yeah." Akane ended her statement with a sigh. "Hey Akane, I'm going to go on ahead. I need to meet my teachers and such." "Okay." He walked off towards the street. The boy glanced at his watch—MON-8:12. He had plenty of time.

When he got to the school, it was noticeable. Furinkan was three stories tall, easily setting it above the surrounding residential area. "_An iron gate?_" Leif also noticed a large brazen plaque that hung on the right side of the fence. It was simply inscribed with the school's name. A large crack interrupted his observation. He looked up to see that the sky had grown dark, yet only for the local area. At the edge of the horizon in all directions, it was a nice morning, except for the Nerima ward, which was shaded by the tall clouds. "_Must be left over from the weekend's front._" He walked inside the gate to find it deserted. He rested on his staff, when he noticed something…he was not alone.

"Oh, Nabiki, you're here early." She looked up at the inquiry. "Yeah, I had a project to finish for Mr. Tanaka's physics class." "Is that the new transfer student?" A girl in Nabiki's class asked her. The latter answered, "Yep." Nabiki continued. "And I don't see why Kuno's going to give him hell. If he wouldn't do that, perhaps this school would see _a lot_ more exchange students that it does." Her friend continued. "Think he'll be okay?" Nabiki smirked, and gave a "humph" sound. "He should have no trouble at all."

Leif looked around, the wind howling. It blew his hair out of the orderly fashion it so naturally despised. "Who goes there?" He heard a contemptuous laugh as a figure stepped from behind a tree. It was a boy, an inch or so taller than Leif, in a traditional garb. That was not what disturbed him. What disturbed was the fact that this person also carried a curved wooden sword of apparently hard oak, with a sharpened edge that _actually_ gleamed. The figure spoke. "Well, now, are you the one who has caused the trouble I have feared?" Leif set his satchel down beside him and clinched his eyebrows down, shading the upper part of his iris. "What?" "Are you not the _gaijin_ who is staying in the Tendo home? With the lass, Akane?" The spin he put on gaijin made the new student almost bear his teeth. A few people stopped talking and watched. "I am the exchange student you are referring to. I have done nothing to her." "You?" Kuno laughed, and stepped forward. "I figured you would be less…frail. Thou wouldst appear as if a ghost sapped your vitality boy…or was it the result of an incantation by that pigtailed fiend that dwells so disrespectfully in thy household?" "What are you blabbering about?" "I simply want a test. To see…if that vile Saotome has corrupted you as I am certain he has many more." "Are you insane? He's a nice guy, of what I've seen." Kuno closed his eyes, laughed softly and then quivered, shaking his fist. "I cannot…allow this…to go _unrepented_!" The kendo practitioner lunged forward at an incredible rate, his weapon out directly to his front. Leif took his staff up off the ground and put it up defensively at a diagonal angle. Sparks flew off the staff in all directions as the sharpened wooden blade slammed against it. Kuno was up in his face. "Good, good, my adversary. There is but a spark still left within thee, but there still rests weakness in thine art." Leif stepped back, keeping his staff at ready. "Adversary?" "What, are you deaf?" Kuno replied sarcastically. Leif blew out a strong "humph" and continued talking. "I have no qualms with you. Who the heck are you, anyway?" Tatewaki simply smiled as he prepared his opening speech. Leif looked around to see a few more students starting to meander into the schoolyard.

The wind blew Kuno's brown bangs as he spoke, acquiring a prominent-looking stance. "I am the captain and champion of this school's kendo club, the rising star of the entire high school fencing world." He raised his blade up, pointing at Leif. "I am Tatewaki Kuno, age, 17." The storm crackled as the fencer continued while Leif, half listening watched the second count on his watch progress. "My peers know me as…" Lightning flashed directly overhead, as Tatewaki inhaled. "…The _Blue Thunder_ of Furinkan High!" The storm echoed the last bit as Tatewaki practiced looking smug. "That's very nice." Kuno scowled. "_Gaijin_, it wouldst be ill in thy deed if I were to be taken…lightly." "Kuno—" Tatewaki interrupted him. "You will address me as _Upperclassman_." "If that's a threat…" Kuno smiled as Leif calmly continued. "…I don't care. Why would I want to fight to fight you in the first place? Do you really fear an as you said 'frail' transfer student?" Kuno simply sputtered and blinked. Meanwhile, on the third floor, Nabiki simply said, "Told you." Leif grabbed his book bag off the ground, and walked inside the school, leaning on his staff.

Kuno stood pondering the new student after watching the boy walk away with a slight limp. "He walks away from me? Heh." Kuno grinned. "Yet his guise and wile are unmistakable; his obvious intellect shrouded, for reasons yet unknown. His claudication gives a sense of honor to his refusal… or perhaps he lives a _pacifist_." Kuno hated that word, that sense of a lack of challenge and spirit. "I cannot tell, although either way his will is mighty indeed. He _is not_ weak… and should be an interesting challenge that I shall deal with soon enough." Kuno smiled, this time almost disturbingly, and casually walked back to the door to the school.

Leif had gotten inside the school when his watch said MON—8:27. "_Well, that's just great! I spent so much time dealing with that darn Kuno guy and now I can't go around to each teacher early!_" He growled in frustration and walked off to his first class, which happened to be on the second floor. As he walked up the stairs, he noticed something. _Everyone_ was staring at him. People would simply stop their conversations entirely when he walked by. They showed no malice, no interest, simply an impolite stoic nature. "_Why is the whole school watching me? Have I done some horrible social error that they kill people for? Haven't they had any exchange students before? I doubt that. Have they never seen an American?_" Leif continued to think as he started to worry constantly about what was happening. Luckily, a few seconds later, he was seated down in his classroom. He looked around, and saw no one he recognized, not knowing whether that was advantageous or not.

The teacher walked in the room, so Leif used his staff to get up and walk over to him. "Good morning, sir." He politely bowed to his instructor. The man, of about forty, balding, and much shorter than him, spoke. "No, no boy. There's no need for that. You're not only new, but speaking a different language. That should be more than a challenge in itself. I hope you enjoy your first day here; if you need help with anything, you're welcome to come ask me, you understand?" "Okay." "And, I don't mean to be rude, but why are you carrying that staff?" Leif opened up the front flap of his satchel with a click and handed his teacher the note. After a short pause, he continued. "Doctor Tofu, eh? You must have really banged it up if you're still sore after seeing him! Why, even I go to see him about once a month for my back. If he says you need to walk on that, it's fine by me, Leif." Leif walked over, still half-limping, (although he tried not to show it) to his desk, which was, consequently, in the exact center of the room. He sat down as the bell rang. There were several groups of girls talking, and when he sat down, their eyes focused on him. Leif's day had definitely not going quite as he planned it. "Class, settle down." The background instantly stopped, leaving only the air conditioning's humming reverberations. "We have a new student today. Leif Zahn new to both Furinkan High School and our country. I ask that you all give a nice, big, warm welcome to him!" The teacher's plan critically failed. Not a single person said anything for a while, and in that sense, nothing warm occurred. They just turned around and glared at him. "_I, I get it! It's my hair they're looking at! Everyone else in this crazy school has either brown or black hair! I bet not many have seen a natural redhead before._" In that account, Leif was correct, at least partially. One girl that sat behind him one seat and to the left one, whispered, if it could be called that, because of the volume, "What the _heck_ is that _akage_ doing here? And look at him." Leif slouched in his seat. This was definitely not a good day.

Leif stumbled to his second hour, after carefully reading his schedule. "Not only that, but the printer smudged the kanji, which were small to begin with!" He almost yelled at no one in particular. "Hey, you want some help?" Leif looked up from the folded piece of paper to see an average, yet slightly different boy standing there. He had slightly frizzy light brown hair similar to many of the other people he had seen the previous hour. "Hey, you and I have a lot of same classes together. But not first hour." He said, after checking the schedule. "You must be the new guy right?" The boy stopped to think, placing his right hand on his chin for a moment. "Zahn, isn't it?" Leif nodded. "Yeah, but I go by my first name most of the time. And you are…?" Leif trailed off while gesturing with his hand. "Hiroshi. Sorry. People in Nerima normally get called both, so just be keep your ears up. Don't want to be embarrassed on your first day here, right?" "_No kidding. Wait…why am I so hard on him if I just met him and he's been polite_?_ Hmm._" Leif cut off his theory, and replied. "Okay."

Along with the other kids that went into the seemingly short doorway (much shorter than Leif was used to, anyway.), another boy stopped next to them, and stood next to Hiroshi, and elbowed the latter. This person had straighter, darker brown hair, and a much less jovial, more subdued expression. "Well, Hiroshi, you've already started hazing the new kid, haven't you?" Leif sputtered. "He wasn't, I mean…" The newer one cocked an eyebrow. "I'm just giving you a hard time, Zahn. I'm Daisuke, and am not at your service." "Okay, great. But how did you know whom I am without me telling you? I assume Hiroshi knows because it's on my schedule." Daisuke cocked his other eyebrow this time, lifting his left. "Actually…no. You see, we both heard about you last week in class, so we pretty much know _who_ you are. And besides, I recognized you, because you're the only person, I bet, in the entire school with that crazy flaming hair of yours. Not a single person here would be crazy enough to die their hair _that_ color." He smirked. "Green, perhaps. Blonde, sure. But flaming orange? You're definitely one to stand out there." Hiroshi nodded in agreement, then spoke up. "Well, I think we might want to get _inside_ the classroom." They proceeded inside to find two-thirds of the class present. Akane, with a few of her friends, walked inside and sat down, still talking, although one of them glanced one eye momentarily at Leif, which almost made him shiver. It was not the action, but the accompanying sour look that agitated him. "Hey Ranma! Finally, you're here. Trouble with Homeroom _again_?" The pig-tailed wonder walked inside, wearing his favorite red tunic and black slacks. "No, just doin' stuff." "Ahh." Daisuke added a rising pitch that made his answer seem mysterious. "Did you know Zahn here has all the same classes we have except for his homeroom?" "Well, cool." Leif recovered his schedule and walked into the room. "_Maybe, just maybe, this day might go better than I thought._" He couldn't have been more wrong.

Leif's day had actually gone fairly well. His second through fourth periods can gone a little better than his first, since the other classmates had seen Ranma, Daisuke, Hiroshi, Akane, and her two friends, (which he learned were Yuki and Sayuri) relaxed around him. "Alright, class, wait to the bell." Ms. Nurasawa eyed her class, the members of which had started to creep towards the door. "So, are you really from the United States?" Yuri asked Leif. "Yep. Far Northwest. Foresty and wet, kinda like here." "And, even though your country drives on the wrong side of the road, they're still okay?" "It's only wrong if the majority of people don't drive like that. Everyone drives on the right side, so they're aren't any major problems." Sayuri spoke up. "See, Yuri, I told you so!" Then, the lunch bell rang.

Leif had been given a lunchbox and an accompanying lunch by Kasumi, which had painted rice that spelled out his first name. He closed the box. "_Tacky, really tacky. At least she was being thoughtful._" Akane spoke up, as Leif packed up. "Aren't you staying in here for lunch? Ranma, Hiroshi, and Daisuke always just stay here." "Nah, I was going to go outside and see if I can still draw. Know any good shady spots to sit?" See turned around and pointed out the window, to the ground. "There's the big oak tree over there, will that work?" Leif found his sketchbook, which just barely fit in the schoolbag, and replied, "Perfect."

Leif walked down the second level stairs, and had to carefully walk the congested hallways, filled with classrooms, lockers, scuffed, dusty floors, and a bunch of noisy people; he hated being stuck indoors. He narrowly avoided running into several people. Leif checked his watch, and saw that he had almost an hour left in the lunch period. As he walked down the right side of the next stairwell, which was on the opposite end of the hall, he avoided a group of girls clogging the whole width of the stairs. He had to use his staff to help him get down the second flight, which had been washed and was still wet. When he got there, he walked there, he found the ground floor empty, except for a group of people that extended from the lunch lines and blocked the hallway. As he walked by another group of students, a person about his height with bleached hair that he recognized from his first hour shoved him down. "Out of my way, _gaijin_." A couple of what he might call geeks (although very moderately so) and the other boy laughed as Leif fell backwards, and crumpled onto the floor, landing on his left ankle, which made him yelp. The group laughed again. Leif winced, and used his staff to carefully get up. When he looked, they were gone; absorbed into the extended line. He shook his head and grabbed his bag, dusting it off, and continued on.

Leif sat down on the section of soft, dry grass that butted up to the oak tree he had seen earlier. He got out his lunch and sketchbook, and took his pen and started in. He stopped for a moment, and looked up and to the left to see Daisuke and Hiroshi grinning at him, as he went back to what he was doing.

"Are you sure?" "Yeah, I know it's true, because Aki said so. He's a _yakuza_ for the Italian mob." The group of girls stood about thirty or so feet from Leif, on a picnic table, talking in a whisper, but purposely loud enough for the whole group, and Leif, to hear. "That orange hair comes from Italy? I thought his family was from Eastern Europe, like Scandinavia." "Nope, you can't listen to Taro-kun. All he watches are those conspiracy mysteries he imports from the U.S. He thinks the _gaijin_ is _actually_ a Russian KGB agent." "The KGB's still around?" "Of course, Yumiko, the KGB's still around." The group of eight continued. Leif had ignored them.

Another group, a co-ed foursome this time, walked by, but they were talking in normal volume. A boy spoke first, stopping the giggling of one of the girls standing next to her boyfriend. "I heard the transfer student killed someone." The girl who responded to this was the one who was standing without a boy next to her, just in the group of four. "Ichiro, that can't be true. He' so nice and—" The same boy cut her off. "No, Hiroko, look at him. See him there? Look at how quiet he is? I did some research for a report in my sophomore year, and it talked about how all the last major U.S. terrorists were all really smart and quiet." "You're full of crap." Another boy remarked this, then conversed to her this time. "I don't know, but if you look over there…" he pointed his finger at Leif. "…he seems really sad, like maybe someone in his family died." Of course, Leif wasn't depressed, just quietly sketching some of the smaller school buildings along with trees and the cirrus clouds overhead in pen. Hearing this last group made him rest his pen and stop, and looked over, seeing his staff on the grass next to him. The group continued. "Well, why don't you see, Shiro-kun? There's no harm in talking to him." Another girl replied. "You're always like that, Hiroko-chan. Always trying to be polite and nice. Who knows might happen if you went over there? He might snap and go crazy, or something." "Relax Ami. Just watch me."

Leif went back to his sketching; he was carefully using the pen to acquire several different line widths by letting it soak into the grain of the paper. "Hey, you're pretty good at that, Leif." There was a voice beside him. Leif set his pen on the pad. The voice walked around to the front of him, revealing it to be a girl, about his age, long black hair (slightly shimmering), and deep green eyes. She squatted down and blinked at him, while the bewildered boy looked on. "You're Leif Zahn, aren't you?" A single bead of sweat ran down Leif's face as his name registered itself in his mind. "_Is he... almost shaking_?" Hiroko blinked as she considered this and then continued. "Are you okay? Your face is white." She chuckled, halfheartedly, then saw his reaction. "You look like... you've seen a ghost." Leif's face mouthed the word, and then went agasp. He then cried out, in plain English, as if he were being strangled by some ethereal force. " No! Stay...away... get away from me! " He backed up, clutching his gear loosely. Hiroko blinked. "I'm sorry, but I don't understand English." " Please... just leave me alone! Why… why are you here? " He continued crawling backwards, still facing the girl, whose face now contained a huge amount of confusion mixed with guilt. She backed up slightly. "I'm...I'm sorry. My name is Yamane Hiroko. I've never met you; at least I think I haven't." Leif calmed down, and looked at her. There was nothing to worry about. He let out a deep sigh. "I'm sorry, Hiroko. I thought...you were someone else. I'm Leif." Hiroko became more cheerful. "Mind if I look at your sketchbook?" He picked it up. "There's nothing _good_ in there, but if you want to see it, go ahead." She took it from him, cocked her head, and smiled cutely. "Thanks."

Daisuke and Hiroshi had been watching the entire "incident" from their window rookery. Hiroshi started in. "So, you think he's a eunuch?" Daisuke raised his left eyebrow. "I _don't_ think so." His statement was highly emphasized. Daisuke continued. "_Inexperienced_, perhaps. Or he just has bad luck with women." Hiroshi replied. "Or perhaps, this whole thing was simply a classic case of mistaken identity." Hiroshi ended his conjecture with the raise of an eyebrow and an accompanying smile that gave the impression of wit. "Yes, Mr. Pinkerton. Excellent theory." They both chuckled.

The bell signaling the end of lunch rang as Hiroko rejoined her group of friends. Ichiro, always the group's critic started in. "Well, you should have listened to Ami-chan. She was right on, _wasn't_ she? I surprised you're not that phased." Shiro poked back at Ichiro. "Yes, but Hiroko was _man_ enough to actually go up and try, Mr. Macho." Ichiro grumbled as Ami chuckled. Hiroko smirked while she headed up the stairs. "You've got to admit, he's cute, even more so when he's quiet like that." Ichiro started in gruffly and teasingly. "Gee, Hiroko, I wouldn't think that—." Ami cut him off. "Ichiro-kun!" "Yes?" he replied weakly. "Shut up now, before I hurt you." "Yes Ami-san." Shiro laughed out loud. "The second best soccer forward we have, getting pushed around by his girlfriend. That is priceless." Hiroko, her thoughts still in a specific elsewhere, more specially, a specific _someone_, her mind filtered out most of the chatter her friends were making. As she opened her locker, she thought to herself. "_But why was he so afraid_? _What about **me** is scary_?" She looked over her hair in the small, plain mirror that hung in her locker. "_What if I can try to undo whatever I did_?"

"So Leif, how was your first day of school? Do you like it here?" Kasumi's ever bright and chipper spirit could not even reach him. He said nothing as he set the lunchbox on the kitchen counter. Using his staff, he climbed up the stairs with little or no facial expression. Kasumi heard the door slam shut. "Oh my, I do hope everything went alright today." She picked her towel and started placing recently clean plates back in the upper cabinet. "Funny you should say that…" The eldest Tendo instantly recognized that perpetually mischievous tone. "Welcome home, Nabiki." The younger walked in behind her sibling. "I'm home!" Kasumi walked out of the kitchen to the front door to confront them (if such a strong verb can be used) about what happened. "Akane, did something happen to Leif today? He didn't say a word." Akane thought for a moment as Nabiki replied. "If you call screaming in English and frightening and agitating the entire school normal, then he had a perfect day." "Oh dear… Does anyone know why?" Akane, her face no longer red, jumped in in her chance to speak. "No. I'm baffled." Nabiki got a sly grin across her face, as she placed her hand on her chin. "Yes, but that's a problem easily solved, now isn't it?" She looked at her sisters' bewildered faces. "What?"


	4. Chapter 4: Vulpine Agenda

**Chapter 4: Vulpine Agenda**

Dinner that Monday evening was awkward, even by the Tendos' standards. Kasumi returned from picking up the dishes and asked a question to the certain quiet individual. "So, Leif, would you like to tell us what happened?" With his head pointed downward and his orange locks blocking his dark face as he sat on the end of the table, he said, almost in a stubborn tone of voice "No." Mr. Tendo replied with a "You're not in trouble, are you?" as he rubbed his mustache. "No, just made a fool of myself, that's all." He sighed. "If you change your mind, we're here to listen." Leif let out a small sigh. "Thanks." Akane diverted the conversation. "Anyone want dessert?" Ranma spoke… sarcastically. "You _didn't_ make it, did you?" Akane's face grew a shade of scarlet. "No, Ranma, I did not!" "Hey, hey, I was just asking. You didn't have to go and be un-cute about it!" "Well excuse me for being un-cute!" Ranma muttered "Serves her right; Stupid tomboy," under his breath. Akane leered at him and gave a contemptful "Hum" as she threw her arms down. As Akane stormed out of the room, Genma and Soun got up. "Say, Saotome, how about a game of Shogi? I still have to beat you for last week." Genma belly laughed. "Not if I have anything to say about it, old friend!" Genma sauntered to the cupboard underneath the TV and pulled out the oaken board; Soun moved two cushions into the hallway, next to the patio. No one, save the ever-vigilant Nabiki, had noticed that during this time that Leif had disappeared. An upstairs door slammed. Nabiki spoke "Yep. There's definitely more to this than he's letting on." She smiled. Kasumi tilted her head. "Now, Nabiki, you shouldn't go and pester him, you hear?" The younger smiled saturninely. "Oh, I won't. Not _him_, anyway."

Leif sat down on the bed, and sighed. He looked outside at the window. He forlornly got up and opened it, letting the night breeze blow inside. He hollowly laughed to himself and then closed it. "_Why do I even bother_?" Leif walked over to his hiking backpack and unzipped the smallest pocket on the front. He rummaged through it until he found something, and then carefully put that something back, sighing. He picked up some clothes and headed downstairs, meeting Kasumi on the way. "Leif, if you're going to take a shower, Mr. Saotome is in the bathroom now, so you'll have to wait." "Okay." He made an about face, and followed Kasumi back up the stairs. After he went into his room, a sly face appeared, slanted, from her doorway. "_I wonder what he had_…"

Leif got his clothes as he headed into the laundry room. There was a certain red shirt on the blandly white washer, along with some other cotton clothes, so he laid his light colors on top of it. He locked the door, and walked through the light blue paned sliding door. "_That's odd_," he quietly said to himself. He set down his toothbrush next to the sink and opened the mirror, giving way to the medicine cabinet. "Aspirin, mouthwash, Band-Aids, Medical tape, syringe, tape recorder—Wait a minute! What is a tape recorder doing here?" He picked up the small black mini-cassette recorder that was currently recording from behind the shaving cream and eyed it. He stopped it, and opened it. On the inside of the lid was inscribed "Property of Nabiki Tendo". He shut the lid, and then the cabinet, grabbed his things, and walked over to the door. He opened it, and walked up to Nabiki's room. "Is this yours?" He tossed the device to Nabiki, who was quietly reclined on her bed, reading, in her favorite shorts and a white shirt that simply read "ON". "It appears so. Thanks." "Don't do that again." "Oh dear, I'm so sorry about that." She grinned. Her statements started out as artificially demure, but turned sarcastically bitter before the end of the sentence. He shut the door behind him. "_Of all the nerve_…" He walked back the bathroom, and took his shower in peace.

Nabiki awoke at her normal time on Tuesday, the day after what was to be called "The Incident". She ran her fingers through her long brown hair and yawned. Her analog clock read at 5:50. She walked downstairs, and looked in the kitchen. There was no one there, which was to be expected, since Kasumi would not be awake for another ten minutes or so, although she did notice one thing especially peculiar about the kitchen. A single black, non-stick skillet of medium size was in the drain board. Kasumi had run the dish washer and placed all the dishes away. "Well, it looks like little Mr. Early struck again." She inspected the pan and put it under the sink. Nabiki walked into the living room and addressed Soun. "Father, do you know where Leif is?" Mr. Tendo cracked an eyebrow as he drank his morning cup of tea, watching the morning weather, from his morning pillow. "Ah, yes. He woke up early again this morning, cooked breakfast for the both of us, and left early for school. Why?" Nabiki yawned again. "Just wondering; I saw the skillet in the drain board." Soun looked mildly surprised. "A fairly self-sufficient lad, wouldn't you say?" "He most certainly is." Nabiki left the living room, and passed an almost, but not quite awake Kasumi on her way up the stairs. She returned to her room, and gathered her supplies. She got her favorite thinly lined black leather gloves, dropped them into a pocket, and put a pencil in the nook of her right ear. "Can't leave any trace, can I?" She tiptoed in her socks across the hall, and quietly walked down the hall and around the corner, passing the Saotomes' room, of which she heard snoring emanating, and walked to Leif's room.

Nabiki opened the door to Leif's room with a slight creak and flicked on the light switch. The lightly furnished room lay empty. She looked around the room until, between the corner of the bed and the short bookcase, was Leif's backpack. Nabiki checked the room further, eying it quickly. She shut the door as she walked inside. "Time to reconnoiter." She pulled on her soft gloves and flexed her fingers afterwards. After confirming a tight fit, she walked over to the bed and kneeled down. Then, without disturbing the bed or moving the bag, she carefully unzipped the smallest two rectangular pockets. She fumbled her hand through the larger one finding nothing of interest, so she cautiously re-zipped the pocket. But when she put her hand in the smaller pocket… Her face showed a few signs of slight shock as she heard metal jingling. As she grabbed the small object, she brought out of the bag. It was a long medallion of some sort, a rounded rectangle, moderately thick, semi-lustrous, with a small woven metal chain about a foot long connected to the top. "_Interesting_." She smiled. It was not the object itself that she found interesting, but the fact that some strange script, unknown to her, was inscribed in it, three characters. It was not Japanese of any form, and she did not recognize it as Chinese. Holding it in her right gloved hand, she flipped the item over. It was blank, except for a small area near the bottom, which read "From:" in English and what looked like initials, except that they were in the same odd language as the front was. She frowned as she pulled out her small notebook from her pocket and took the pencil off her ear. She placed the medallion under a blank lined sheet, and rotated the pencil to the blunt side, shading over the exposed area. A faint copy appeared, and as she pressed harder, the image became darker and sharper. Nabiki flipped the trinket over and sketched over the other side. She blew off the dust, and closed the notebook. She placed it back in her pocket, replaced her pencil on her ear, and gently coiled up the medallion, placing in the general position she found it in, closing the pocket afterward. She got up and smiled. "Now to find out what this little thing means."

Leif was lucky; probably too much for his own good. He had woken up even earlier than usual and cooked himself and his host breakfast. "_Mr_._ Tendo, do you have a phone book_?" "_Sure_,_ it's by the phone_." Leif remembered how awkward it had felt, and pondered if this trip was really required. "_No_,_ it's not_." After answering his unspoken question, he took a Tokyo street map from the right grenade pocket of his pants, checking over the address he had unearthed. He checked his notebook, flipping through the blue-lined pages until he found his latest entry. He flipped it closed, and folded the map as well. He walked down the quiet street, a series of small houses, until he found the right address. He still walked with his staff, with the same barely-noticeable hobble.

He analyzed his target residence, checking it thoroughly. The two front windows were both curtained and shut. A small row of short hedge was off the right of the quaint duplex house. This would be adequate for his plan. He walked up the single step up to the walkway that separated it from the sidewalk. He set down his brown leather school satchel, unsnapping it from his black diagonal sling. (He had brought it with him to Nerima and had found that the strap suited the bag, turning it into a makeshift messenger's bag, which, for him, was much more usable.) He opened the bag, and removed a small tan envelope from it, with a small row of kanji characters on one side, and set it on the doorstep. He shut his bag, replaced it on his shoulder, and then carefully stepped back from the doorway. He gripped his staff, and swung it level to his arms, then carefully used it to ring the doorbell. He rushed to the green hedge, hiding behind it; then he slowly crawled towards the next house.

Mrs. Yamane was inside her home, washing dishes, when the doorbell rang. She set the plate she was drying on the marbleized countertop, and proceeded to the door. She pressed her thumb on the latch and opened it. "Hello?" She eyed the walkway and stepped outside. Mrs. Yamane stepped forward; she stopped suddenly when she realized she stood upon something. She turned and picked up the now-indented envelope that read "To Ms. Hiroko" on it. Hiroko's mother opened it, glanced at it, and then closed it. She gave a small smile and shut the door. "Hiroko! There's a letter for you!" She waited at until she heard her daughter's response. "Coming mother!" Hiroko walked around the corner of the hall, a long handled comb in her hands, as she went arduously through her black strands that extended down her back. Mrs. Yamane handed Hiroko the envelope, as the much-befuddled girl accepted the note. "What's this?" Her mother wagered nothing as a response. "Hiroko's eyes followed the letter, written in kanji, and in exceptional penmanship. "Leif? He…wrote this? But, how could he? I thought that—." She stopped her thought in mid-sentence. "_I guess someone who can speak Japanese that well could probably write it_." Her mother looked at her daughter, silently remarking about how her black hair was reflected in Hiroko, although she possessed her father's unusual green eyes. She reverted to reality. "So, do you know this 'Leif'?" Hiroko perked up. "Yeah, he's the new kid, from the U.S.. I think he was…trying to apologize." "For what, dear?" "I kinda embarrassed him on his first day of school. I don't really know how. He didn't seem to make a fuss over it." Mrs. Yamane's face transitioned to a thoughtful juxtaposition. "Well, wasn't that still nice of him?" "I guess so…" Hiroko picked up the letter, grabbed her comb, and returned to her room.

Leif arrived at school at precisely 8:10, although that was purely coincidental. His watch was fast, so it read a minute ahead of what the school's clocks read. He quietly walked across the lot, using his staff, and except for the occasional onlooker, he was pretty much ignored. He never stopped, or even looked up. His long orange bangs shaded his face, and when compared with the declination of his neck, appeared to shade his eye cavities almost black. Meanwhile, a certain other resident of Furinkan had an opposing mood. "_If he thinks I shall stand for this transgression passed against, he thinks wrongly_._ Wrongly, indeed_." Tatewaki stood with his bokken at the ready, his bangs being blown by the wind, although there was strangely little wind that fine Tuesday. Leif walked towards the main doors of the school. Kuno pronounced his well-rehearsed rhetoric. "Underclassman Zahn, if you think you can—." Unfortunately for him, he was unable to finish, as at this point Leif shut the door behind him without turning around or even seeing Kuno. This left the suavely swordsman getting the door slammed in his face, leaving a red imprint from the glass. "Errr…Gaaahhh!" He barely kept from yelling, trying to keep his irascibility under firm control. "We shall see about this, Zahn." Unbeknownst to both of them, a certain girl familiar with the events of yesterday had seen what had happened to the letter-sender.

Nabiki arrived two minutes later. "Well, my best evidence is shady at best." "Are you sure that's it?" Nabiki's duo of "business associates" checked over the folded carbon copy she made. "I don't take it you know any of this." She waited, pressing her hand on the second-story windowsill. "Nope." "No way." "I'll just go check with the Professor." Her brown-haired friend thought for a moment. "Wait, you mean the guy from the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies?" Nabiki nodded. "Yeah, he's a linguistics professor. Hopefully he'll know." She stretched her arms and examined the shading. The characters was angular, a long vertical stem with various branches extending out at forty-five degree angles. Not that added any meaning to it, of course.

"Professor Arakaki?" A female voice inquired, interrupting the scholarly Arakaki from his books. "Yes?" He turned around to see the short-haired and inscrutable girl. He didn't wear glasses, unusual for someone of sixty-three. His office was cramped, not because it was small, but because it contained six large, oaken bookcases, filled to their brims with tomes of all shapes, sizes, colors, covering everything from Tai to Irish-Gaelic. All of the bookcases' shelves had a penchant to drooping. "What can I do for you, Ms. Tendo?" He sighed as he put down the volume he was currently thumbing through. She frowned as she handed Arakaki the paper. "Does this make any sense to you?" He glowered slightly. "What scheme are you up to this time, Nabiki?" She appealed earnestly to him, with a slightly warming smile. "Nothing …yet. This is on the necklace of one of my friends and I was wondering what it meant. It's some sort of script language, isn't it?" Arakaki burbled a reply. "It appears so. Nothing I know of offhand. Let me check."

He arose from his seat, and proceeded to the pulverulent shelves, taking one book off his shelves. It had a title in English, (_An Examination on Ancient Germanic Dialects and Their Evolutions_, to be exact) one complex enough to cause the Tendo girl to become temporarily strabismic. The reputable gentleman lifted the tomb, flipping through a few index pages while he set it upon his desk. He leaned over it, inspecting it, until he flipped to a page approximately a fourth through the five hundred and fifty or so pages that it contained. There was a small, black and white picture that appeared in the left hand page, in the bottom right, of a small stone engraved with small, straight-edged symbols. He canvassed the volume, comparing the picture to another one on the next plate of the book, and then flipped a few more pages until he came across a chart, showing the symbols. He took the folded piece of paper and compared it with the chart. "You don't mind if I write on this, do you?" The gaunt gentleman inquired. Nabiki responded…pensively. "Sure, I don't care." Arakaki clicked the top on his ballpoint, then copied the English translation out to the side. "You can read this, can't you?" he broached the topic as he handed it back to her. "Yes, I _think_ so. 'Leif'?" The professor spoke up. "It could refer to Leif Eirikson, the Norse explorer, son of Eirik the Red, who, after arriving in Iceland in A.D. 985 proceeded to purchase a ship and set foot upon the North American continent. Or, after all, it still is a very common Scandinavian name." Nabiki puckered slightly, not one for long explanations of things she already knew the answer to. "That'd be the name of the new exchange student in the sophomore class. But what's this area here on the back?" She pointed to it with her second, effeminate finger. "Sorry; I didn't see that." He took a quick glance and then responded. "That appears to be 'From S' period, 'A' period—possibly the initials of whomever gave it to Leif." Nabiki's face pruned. "I don't know an S.A., so I guess I can just ask him. Thanks for your help, professor." "Any time, any time." Dr. Arakaki replaced the book on the shelf as Nabiki replaced the slip of now-translated paper in her right-front pocket and proceeded out the door. Arakaki mumbled as he went back to his research on the previous arcane book. "Somehow, I have a feeling she's not going to ask that kid anything." He didn't have to grade papers now, or at least he didn't want to. It was his planning period, after all.

"Captain Kuno, sir?" The elder sibling eyed his lieutenant. "What is it?" The boy stumbled a bit; the leer he was receiving didn't help either. "That Gosunkugi kid you wanted is waiting outside for you." "Thank you." He got off his meditation pillows (dark blue; they matched his kendo uniform.) and proceeded outside the practice hall. There stood a slightly wiry, wide-eyed boy with extremely dilated pupils. "You called for me, Upperclassman Kuno?" The seemingly nihilistic and smallish boy craned his neck and blinked, like a demented heron. Kuno skewed his face and eyebrows slightly, and then replied. "There is a new student in your class—Sophomore Class E. Are you aware of this?" Kuno placed his hands clasp behind his back and stood; it was his militarial stance, one of the more subtle ways of intimidation he possessed. Gosunkugi thought for a moment then responded. "You mean the exchange student? The one with the orange hair and the black leather jacket who made a fool of himself yesterday?" Kuno laughed, scoffing at the response. "Good, good. At least those glasses of yours are good for _one_ thing." Hikaru blinked, taking off the said glasses, blowing on them and then replacing them. "Well, actually, sir, it was going around the entire school circles. I've never _actually_ seen him." Kuno soured. "Wonderful. His guile concerns me in several ways, Underclassman..." As Tatewaki trailed off, Hikaru (touching his pointer finger to his sideburns) finished the unspoken request. "And you want me to find a weak point?" "Precisely. Otherwise, I wouldn't waste _valuable_ time dealing with scum of your low caliber. And if you think that rubber snakes will work…" The voodoo kid gulped. "Yes sir." Kuno went back to his… "meditation".

The rabbit-eyed boy unaffectionately known as "Voodoo Spike" spent the first three minutes of his lunch period fumbling in some bushes. The 400 ISA film he had on hand; it was twelve exposure. And always twelve exposures, in case someone confiscated the camera and felt like damaging his film, he could have several rolls of pictures, and hopefully, at least one would survive. His new SLR was nice because it had electronic controls that could be set to automatically take care of speed, f-stop, and flash timing (if necessary) so he could get to his favorite part, the lurking. And besides, the Swiss lenses were sharp and cool looking. With a loud "snap" he finished, as the camera whirred for a short time to prepare the film. Once a green LED light appeared next to the viewfinder, he popped his mop of black hair above the top of the shrubbery, scanning the horizon for trouble. He carefully got up, and proceeded to the back side of the school.

Furinkan looked small, and though it was small in width, it comprised several buildings and went back quite a ways. "_Hmm_…_ If Leif was in the same spot today as he was yesterday, that'd put him at the oak tree_." Gosunkugi sprinted behind a small row of trees on the side of the tech building. The tech building was originally just a wood shop class that was added on to and updated to have the same architecture as the front of the school. Not only that, but it provided great cover. The problem, of course, were the jocks from said shop class, who just happened to be walking out of the exit and through the permanent awning, presumably to go to the food lines in the main building. Hikaru hid with his back against the wall where the exit jutted out slightly, making an "L" shape. "Yeah, but did'ja hear about the World Cup?" Gosunkugi held his breath and listened further. "Those crazy Europeans. They get so hyped and then they go crazy when Brazil beats them for the zillionth time." "Talk about it." A metal hinge squeaked, followed by the faint hiss of a hydraulic arm until the door jostled shut. There were concrete steps directly ahead of him that could be directly reached from the tech building, although that would put him in the smaller field, out in the open. Gosunkugi instead put his camera on his sling, and while almost whistling, slipped around to the awning and walked down it, as if to go to lunch. His plan was going perfectly…

"Hikaru Gosunkugi, what are you doing here?" A voice asked, without malice. The eternally purpled-lower-eye-lidded guy did an about face to see a certain youngest Tendo behind him. He started to quiver. "Umm…Akane…Tendo?" She blinked. "Yes?" "Well, I was walking to the main building to grab some…lunch. Wh-why should you ask?" Akane smirked confusedly. "I meant with the camera." "Oh, the _camera_. He he." He smiled weakly while his left hand rubbed the back of his head, rubbing his hair. "Well, next semester, they're starting up a photography club, so I was hoping to get some practice ahead of time on some the harder stuff. You know…framing, changing f-stop ratios for light conditions without a flash, and into-the-sun shots." Akane blinked. "Oh, okay. See you around." She walked off towards the field as Hikaru sighed, half relieved, half euphoric. His half-truth had worked. The school was starting up a photography club, and he was going to practice, just not now or here. "She…talked…to me…again." Hikaru smiled, as he mumbled the sentence. He quickly shook off his spaced-out brain. "_I have a mission to complete_!" He snuck around to the side of the main building, and found another patch of shrubbery. He checked his watch. He had over another half hour remaining, which should have been sufficient.

Gosunkugi reached into his left pocket, withdrawing a telephoto lens. He twisted off the protective back, and then inserted it into the camera body with a slight "snap". He pulled forward the sun shade, then while looking through the viewfinder, and he pulled out the lens slightly when rotating it counterclockwise. It showed a girl, black hair, who was leaning on the tree, roughly in line with Hikaru. Perpendicular to the girl, about eighty degrees of rotation clockwise was a tall boy sitting, his back against the tree. He was eating something. That wasn't what got his attention. What got his attention was a combed mop of orange hair that would glistened enough to give back lens flare, had the hair not been in the oak tree's shadow. "Well, Leif Zahn, I've…found you." He muttered to himself as he zoomed in, as Leif had started speaking. Of course, he couldn't hear at both the distance and the ambient noise, but of course, Hikaru Gosunkugi was mildly good at lip reading, so he zoomed the lens out to its full 10 magnification capacity, twisting slightly to keep it in focus. He focused on the mouth. Gosunkugi then, in a risky but unnoticed move begin to whisper what he heard. "...and I want you to leave me alone. That note was supposed to have been the last darn communiqué? No, wait, contact." Hikaru pulled back slightly, snapped a picture, moved back to encompass the pair, snapped another three pictures, and another as the girl smirked and walked off. He hastily removed the lens, replaced the wide angle lens, and got up, failing to keep a low a profile as he had wanted. "_I wonder_…_about what note_?"

The next order of business was of course, to trail the subject in question. However, that would have to wait until school was out for the day, as Hikaru's watch had beeped—the alarm he had set went off. "Time to go." He took off the telephoto and replaced it with his standard wide angle as the film automatically rewound itself. After a click, he retrieved the film, and placed it in his pocket. He got up; dusting his trousers, then slinked around to the right side of the building. Of course, he had given himself twice as much time was needed to get to class, because, for Gosunkugi, there was a great deal of importance in not being seen.

"Do my ears deceive me? Nabiki Tendo, asking for help?" Tatewaki Kuno stroked his chin thoughtfully, having already straightened his shirt collar. Nabiki frowned. "I was asking what you know about him." Kuno chuckled. "Well, if you wish to know, it shall cost you. What have you been charging me? I think two thousand yen should be sufficient for _my_ services." Nabiki walked to Kuno and whispered in his ear. "How about this. You tell me, now, and I won't _not_ only stop sales, but I'll not find ways of destroying what I've already sold you as well." Kuno got a look of illness on his face. "Fine. I hate you, but fine." He sat back down at his desk, and after looking around quickly, started to weave his tale. "From what _I've_ seen, this Zahn boy is peculiar. He almost disregards me, and yet he has honor towards me. Is his goal to discredit or humiliate me, or is it but to delay or change my mind? I know not, but there is only one thing that truly worries me about him. His eyes. Those sapphires of his burn with untold radiance, they conceal something about him that both drives him and kills him. A passion if you will, of power not seen since the knights of old. Not seen for a hundred—" Nabiki interrupted. "I asked for facts, _not_ a soliloquy." "He's an exchange student from Washington State in the U.S., approximately six foot one or two, a very light build, an injured leg, and obviously in near-manic depression. Is _that_ what you wanted?" Nabiki closed her notebook. "I already knew that. I also know that you hired a sophomore, a Hikaru Gosunkugi to investigate on your behalf." Tatewaki's face cringed for the second time. "Egg… How do you—Ah, well. I _sincerely_ hate you." She just smiled blissfully. "I know." She sat back down. "How do you know that!" Kuno yelled, just as the teacher had reached his podium. Lunch had just ended. "Kuno?" "Yes sir?" "Take your seat…now." Tatewaki gulped and quietly sat down.

The bell signifying the end of class shrieked like a banshee at the appropriate time. Well, it was _technically_ fourteen seconds early, but then again, the students didn't really mind. Before they even reached the hallway, Yuki and Sayuri were already formulating plans for hitting the mall on Thursday or Friday, but Akane was concentrating on a certain flummoxed fiancé. "Ugh… Why the heck did she have to do that? I've still worn out." Akane shrugged. "You were 'misbehaving' again, weren't you?" Ranma cut a frazzled glance. "At least she thought so." Leif, who had been following down the hall at a distance, moved up just slightly behind the couple, people (who had been standing near the lockers) dispersing and moving away at the sight of the red-haired gaijin. "Who made you tired?" Ranma turned around to see an inquisitive faced "gaijin". "Ah, it's just my first hour. 'Ya know, home room? She's a weirdo. A pain in the tail." "I see." Leif then stopped at his locker as he had just passed it. The boys standing to the left side leered and more quietly resumed their conversations. He quickly spun the dial, popped it open, and grabbed the one folder he needed when he stopped for moment. "_Something's wrong_." He set his satchel on the floor next to the locker below his. He grabbed his staff, and spun around. There stood the boy with the blond-bleached hair and two of his cohorts.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the little freak _gaijin_ from the other day. I was feelin' like a little bit of a payback for weirding the crap out the school." He withdrew a small shiny, brownish object, and then lunged at Leif. Leif dodged the boy's left hook by ducking and slid his feet counter-clockwise around him. He twirled the staff, the tip impacting the blond's back as he spun around in a circle. The blow knocked the wind out of the aggressor, and as he stood stunned, Leif continued his circle in place by lifting his right knee. Leif then forcefully kicked his shins while sliding his back leg around behind him, simultaneously thrusting the staff into the hip. "Agghhh," was all he gurgled. Leif heard the brass knuckles "ting" when they hit the floor as the punk fell onto the tiled floor. One of his black-haired accomplices rushed up behind him. Leif smiled to himself, then twisted in place, holding his staff vertical, touching the floor. A loud crack was heard as the assailant's attempted chop smacked into cold metal. Leif then rotated his right and upper hand around the pommel, turning the block into a clean, horizontal slice. Leif could hear bone crack. Needless to say, the force of impact threw the boy backwards into the lockers, one of the handles impacting on his spine. "_One to go_." The last kid, looking slightly more intelligent and wearing a black sport-coat, and thoroughly enraged, grabbed the staff with both hands, intending to push Leif back. Leif lowered his arms while sliding foot-first into the kid, then threw him backwards. A "twang" sounded as he landed in the trashcan, head first. The dyed-haired instigator slowly regained consciousness about three minutes later. "What the _hell_ was that? He does martial arts with that damn thing?" He tried to prop himself on his arms only to yelp in pain. "The little…"

Leif was very wary walking home. His senses poised, he felt something amiss. As he walked through the final turn before the dojo's street, he slipped into an alley on the right side of the street, placing his back against the wall closest to the direction he had came. Soft footsteps… Leif lunged out of the shadows, throwing his shadower against the wood fence with one hand and with the other, held his staff at his stalker's throat. It was Hikaru Gosunkugi. "What the heck are you doing following me?" Gosunkugi pointed at himself, gulped, and started talking. "I was just part of the welcoming committee at school and I was wondering—." Leif noticed the camera. "If I'd like to be followed and photographed? No. _Give_ me that." He scowled. "But…" Leif pored at the boy, who then hastily handed him his camera. Leif skillfully rewound the film via automatic rewind, then popped open the back of the case. He deposited the 35 mm. roll in his navy blue right-front jacket pocket, clicked the SLR body shut, then handed it back to Gosunkugi, withdrawing his staff from the vicinity of his jugular, and setting it beside him.

"Now, what were you going to ask me?" Leif, a bit more lightheartedly asked. "I was trying to give you…these." After rummaging through his coat pocket, Hikaru withdrew two gift certificates and handed to him. "Luigi's Pasta Palace? No thanks." Hikaru blinked as Leif handed the tickets back. "But, they're free, you know, for being an exchange student?" He smiled hopefully. "Nah, I can't stand Italian. Pizza and spaghetti are okay, but it would be silly to go there just for spaghetti." Hikaru relaxed. "_He's definitely not a Mafioso_!" He thought for a moment, then spoke. "Well, if you like pizza, there's always Ucchan's Okonomiyaki. It's kind of like pizza. You should try it." Leif nodded. "Thanks." Hikaru lifted his finger up in inquisitiveness. "Can I leave without swift, painful death now? Please?" Leif shrugged, then grinned. "Sure, why not?" Hikaru sighed a second time, looking around for a moment. "Well, I was just afraid that—." Leif was already gone by the time he turned his head around. The wooden door to the Tendo yard creaked closed. Hikaru then opened his right hand, revealing his goal. A single strand of medium-length red-orange lay in it. The voodoo kid grinned. He was going to like the next part.

Hikaru walked across town (or rather, across the ward of Nerima) when he reached an oddly large house. To the best of his knowledge, the concrete gated mansion—if it could be called that; it was too big for a house, and too small a mansion—had been the private residence of a German business magnate in the 1970's, while he lived in Japan. After he moved back to his native land, the tile-roofed home was sold…to Miyo's parents. "_Come to think of it, I haven't met her_." He continued, vocalizing his final word of "Yet". As Gosunkugi opened the iron gate, he noticed a strange piece of stained glass mounted above the front doors—a hexagram.

As he approached the door, it opened before him. Out stepped a girl, about his age, with long bushy brown hair. Normal, except for her eyes. They were almost entirely green, with barely any visible white and no real pupil to speak of; the green wasn't a natural, bright green, but a dank olive. "Well, Gosunkugi Hikaru. I've been expecting you. Always nice to meet someone else in…" she hesitated, "…the art." Hikaru's face tightened. "But I never said I was coming. I never called, I never—." Miyo nodded slightly. "And prognostication is my specialty. Please, come inside." Hikaru noticed another pair of the symbols above the door knob assemblies as he stepped inside. The house was fairly dark, when it was a sunny day outside. The only light that glanced in the room was from what had been an electric chandelier that had later been replaced, as obvious by the irregular flickering. They flickered like candles, but on closer inspection, it _still_ was an electric chandelier, much to Gosunkugi's surprise, given the house's _odd_ décor. It had been designed that way. "Now, whom did you want to know about?" Miyo stared him straight in the eye after speaking her sentence almost monotonically, yet with a hint of mystery; she seemed like perhaps a talking cobra would before it bit you. Gosunkugi slid up to the hexagram-engraved table in a large oaken armchair, albeit rather slowly, before answering the girl's question. "Leif Zahn." Miyo smiled. "Ah, the bisque exchange student. He is…intriguing. Shall we consult…the cards?" Miyo cocked her head every so slightly, giving a lax stare.

Miyo shuffled her tarot deck carefully, until she was ready to make her first selection. She picked up the card carefully, examining it while Gosunkugi examined the strange teal design embossed into the navy back of the card. "Aha, just as I expected. The Magus appears first." She flipped another over. "The Nine of Swords." And another. "The Three of Swords." She laid those cards for Gosunkugi to see as she continued. For a fourth, she drew the Moon card, followed by Ten of Swords. "And for a sixth, what shall it be?" She paused. "What? The Seven of Swords? This is strange. The arcane cards I think I understand, but what do the swords have in connection? And why all of the same suit?" She held up all six cards in a fold, scanning them meticulously. Suddenly, a slight hiss was heard as the cards ignited into an entirely blue flame. "Aghh!" Miyo screamed as she threw the cards on the table, watching as they burned brightly, leaving no trace. "I've never seen this happen! The cards don't know?" She sighed as Hikaru raised his hand. "What does that mean?" Miyo grimaced. "It means I need a new deck of cards. But wait, there's always the ball." As she got up to retrieve the crystal ball, her tetragonal star sapphire pendant emblazed slightly.

"Now this is very strange. It is not a person or a place I see, but an object. A quartz crystal, as pure as glass, but with a strange malformation. Ah, I see. A piece of dark mineral makes the quartz smoky, but only in one sliver that pierces the center. How odd. Normally, I can see things less vague and—." At that point, a "chink" was heard as the crystal ball shattered—into four separate and perfect pieces. "What? Oh no… this is indeed a bad omen…" Miyo lamented the loss of her favorite sphere as she examined the sliced pieces; perfect as if a sliced melon. "And only _four_ pieces. That is unlucky…unless…" Hikaru stared at her. "…Unless what?" Miyo didn't reply. Instead, she went over to a cabinet, opened the drawer third from the top and withdrew a small whiskey compass. She sauntered back over without even the softest sound and held the compass over the broken object in question. "Unless it aligns…with the cardinal directions…" She smiled. "This Leif Zahn is quite fascinating. A mystery, even to my methods. He acts as black ice, and yet is being torn apart. That is all I know. I can't even find out who or what. He is an interesting character. Thank you for bringing him up. I hope we can work together in the future." "Thanks." Hikaru blurted his reply as he quickly vacated the residence of the all too spooky girl. Hikaru thought for a moment. "_All I've got now is a pretty good indicator that's he not a Mafioso, and a freaked out fortune teller_. _I'm dead_." He patted his jacket pocket, revealing a cased roll of film. "_The pictures_!" Hikaru still had the roll with the "incriminating" pictures. "_Nothing by themselves, but if Kuno got his crazy sister of his involved, I'm sure they're incriminating_." "Perhaps I'm not dead. But Zahn is going to die, one way or another."


	5. Chapter 5: The Cursèd Band

**Chapter 5: The Cursèd Band**

Kuno stood in meditation in his room just for that purpose at the family mansion. A lance and a halberd lined the wall behind him. "_So he still reigns an enigma_. _He silks and sulks_, _but sooner or later he shall have to expose himself_. _And when that happens, Ranma's little lackey shall become dust_." Kuno smiled, remembering the insults dealt to him on Wednesday and Thursday. Today that would change. Tatewaki brushed off his hakama and proceeded to his bedchamber.

Tatewaki had arrived at school at a ludicrously early time. There was of course, early kendo club practice. One disciple had sparred using a foil and another with saber so that Kuno could talk of the strategy involved when fighting someone with a differing sword type. Most of the club loved the temporary change. Now Tatewaki stood waiting for either of his possible antagonists, whether he should have orange or black hair made no difference—both were to be considered an enemy. The giant clock several blocks away chimed eight times. Kuno opened his eyes, resting upon his bokken's hilt. Footsteps sounded. "Halt, Zahn. If you think that you can best Tatewaki Kuno, the champion of the Furinkan Kendo Club, you are mistaken." He laughed softly to himself. A feminine voice answered, "Excuse me? Upperclassman Kuno, I need to talk to you." Kuno looked to see a girl about his age—no, slightly younger, with long black hair, green eyes, and a look of displeasure on her face. "Yes?" "I'm Yamane Hiroko of sophomore class F. I want you to leave the exchange student alone." "What? Why would I want to leave him alone? The ally of my enemy is _also_ my enemy." Hiroko stepped forward slightly. "Because, he's in a new country, unfamiliar surroundings, a strange language, and you go out of your way to traumatize him!" Kuno frowned. "I do not follow your reasoning." Hiroko shook her head, running her hands through her hair. "I'm a member of the student council. I also wanted to tell you that I could suggest the dissolution of the kendo club, since several members have complained on your threats and destruction of school property. Harassing Leif would be just another point I could suggest." Kuno's face grew slightly pale as his eyes grew wide, then cinched almost to lines. "Insolent wench! You dare suggest blackmail against the like of me?" Hiroko rolled her eyes playfully. "Um, yes."

Leif's Friday had gone much like the day before. Other students avoided him; his teachers never asked about what had happened. He sat alone underneath the oak tree at lunch, with only Hiroko daring to converse with him. "I was just wondering if—." Leif interrupted her, speaking darkly. "You need to find something other to do than bother me. Why can't you leave me alone?" Hiroko smirked. "You need to lighten up! Don't be so sulky! Who cares if the school hates your guts?" Leif grimaced in pain. "So you're becoming an outcast for just a faulty reason? You're a fool." Hiroko pointed her right index finger at him. "And you are an even bigger fool. By hiding, you just give the school more reason to hate you." Leif sighed. "There you go, relaxing is the first step!" Leif's tone grew more annoyed. "You don't tire of this, do you?" "I won't stop until you cheer yourself up." "Then I guess you'll be following me back to the U.S. after this term, then?" Hiroko rolled her eyes and reached into her schoolbag/purse, took out a paper slip and handed it to him. "Here. There's a really good action flick that came out last Friday, and I was going with my friends to go see it this afternoon." Leif flipped the ticket through his hands. He got up and grabbed his staff. "Do you want to come?" Leif coldly answered, "No" as he ripped the ticket in half and dropped it in her hands. He walked away as a confused and slightly sad Hiroko sunk to the ground. As he neared the steps, a black-haired and very average-looking boy stopped him. "You know, that wasn't very nice to Hiroko-chan." Leif edged by him. "Please get out of my way. Who are you?" "Miyagi Shiro, Class F." Leif raised his right eyebrow. "But Shiro—thanks for talking to me." A small smile came across Leif's face as he walked off. Shiro blinked.

Leif was sprinting home. "Leif, wait!" Akane ran to catch up with him. Leif answered, a bit annoyed. "What?" "Why are you going so fast?" "I've got homework." Akane frowned. "So? So do I. I was wondering if you'd like to—." Leif interrupted, never bothering to look her in the eye. "It's college level calculus. I don't have time for 'social activities' this evening." Akane fumed. "You know, you can be worse than Ranma sometimes!" Leif had disappeared.

Leif ran up the stairs to his room without so much as a thought. Kasumi beamed and offered greetings. "Welcome home, Le—." She was stopped by a "slam" that almost shook the house. "Oh dear." The front door unhinged. Ranma, in his favorite red shirt, walked in, followed by Akane. "So, where's Leif? I was hoping to spar with him, you know, staff to staff?" Akane sighed. "Don't bother. He's too busy with calculus." Ranma shrugged and walked around to the backyard. There was a person there, resting against the outer wall, without a backpack or umbrella. "Ryoga, what are you doing here?" No answer. "Excuse me?" The man looked up. "_It is Ryoga, but something's different about him_." Ryoga stepped forward, laughed, and uttered, "I've finally found you, Marcellus." Ranma blinked a few times. "Marcellus? Who's Marcellus?" Ryoga pointed at him. "Mark my words. I'll have revenge for what you did to me, eleven years ago." Ryoga turned, jumped over the fence and disappeared. Ranma stood a bit spellbound before reversing to see Kasumi. "It's nice that Ryoga stopped by. What did he need?" "He didn't need anything. He called me 'Marcellus'. Do you know someone named Marcellus?" Kasumi shook her head. "No." Ranma frowned slightly. "I guess I can find out."

Ranma first stopped the Hibiki residence. The door was unlocked, so he checked the house. "_He's not in the kitchen or the living room_. _Maybe upstairs_?" He carefully pressed the handle to Ryoga's room. "Hey Ryoga? You there?" Wind blew from the open window across the room as the trademark umbrella and backpack leaned against the bed. The only light on was that from the smallish desk lamp. Ranma walked the desk, only stopping to trip over the tanuki statue next to the bed. On the desk was a bandana. Ranma picked it up and examined it. Its design consisted of black squares on a yellow field, and the more surprising aspect was the fact that there was only one bandana. "_Isn't this what Ryoga normally wears_? _That's what was different_! _He was wearing a different bandana_!"

On the way home, Ranma walked through Shakuji Park, relaxed. The last boats on the lake were taking their time. A muttered "Why?" broke his thoughts. "Excuse me?" He looked to see a man, head in his hands, on one of the park benches. He was wearing a red bandana with streaks of white, slightly faded. He looked up at Ranma. "_Is that Ryoga_?" Ryoga, tearful, and sobbing, addressed him. "Why, Marcellus? Why did you abandon me eleven years ago? I asked about those two-wheeled machines people ride and their metal carriages. Then I found out what…what year it was!" He got up, and pointed at Ranma. "Because of you, Constance has been dead for centuries! I don't even know who I am anymore. What language am I even speaking? I don't know! I found my house, but it's not mine!" Ranma stood puzzled, seeing Ryoga both babbling and crying. "Ryoga, is your head screwed on too tight? You're not making any sense." Ryoga grew more upset and pressed one hand on his forehead. "Don't call me that!" His tears stopped. "If…I'm here, and you're here, Marcellus, then maybe Constance is also…" He turned away, and starting running away. "Please, I can't lose you again! Ahh! Geeze, that's cold. What kind of contraption is that, anyway?" Ranma stood spellbound as Ryoga turned the corner, not because he ran into the sprinkler but because he stayed human. He blinked. "All right. Something is _definitely_ wrong with him."

Ranma ran home. He was genuinely worried…about a person who hated his guts and wanted to kill him. Running around the last corner before the Tendo home, he managed to run into a large cart with a loud thud. A thickly accented Japanese voice asked, "Are you alright, son?" An older middle-aged yet determinate looking gentleman came from the front of the cart that he had apparently been wheeling along behind him. He was tall, moderately built with grey hair, a grandfatherly face, and was wearing a simple white headband. Ranma brushed himself and answered, "Yah, I think so." The man smiled slightly. "You wouldn't happen to know the way to the residence of one Soun Tendo, now would you?" "Yeah, that's where I'm going, old man." The man chuckled. "Lead on, my son. Lead on." Ranma walked onward, before finally asking the man a question. "Hey old man. Can I ask your name?" The man smiled. "Ulrich Schlüter. And you, my boy?" "Ranma. Ranma Saotome." Ulrich smiled. "I've heard much of you. Not lately, of course, but I know of your exploits. I'm sure you make the school proud." Ranma, befuddled, answered, "Um, yeah." By this time they reached the gate to the Tendo household. Ranma opened, and held it open. "Thank you."

Ranma opened the front door, and was greeted by Soun. "Mr. Tendo this is—." Soun, oblivious, cut him off. "Uli? Uli Schlüter?" "The one and only." "Well, it's been ages! Please, come inside." He then yelled into the house. "Kasumi! Could you please get some tea? An old friend has come to visit." Uli set his down his cart and walked up the steps, Ranma following. They walked to the living room and sat down. "So, Uli. It's been a while. Why are you half-way around the world for?" He thought for a moment, stroking his clean-shaven face. "I was originally just going to visit. However, on my way here, I ran into a bit of a problem." Kasumi walked into to the room, carrying a tray with teacups and a small kettle. Uli got up and looked at her. "Soun, is this your oldest? Little Kasumi, hm? My, she's really grown up." Soun looked at his daughter. "Dear, do you remember Uli Schlüter? He's an old friend of mine and Genma's." "I think so. I don't really know." Uli smiled. "She looks just like her mother, huh? Speaking of which, Soun, where is your wife?" Soun looked down at the table, a tear manifesting itself. He calmly started talking. "She's dead, Uli." Uli's face cinched slightly in pain. "Sorry. It has been too long." Soun noticed Ranma, leaning against the wall. "Ranma, please go get your father for me." "Sure."

Leif was finishing his last problem as Nabiki opened the door. The lead in his mechanical pencil snapped as he heard the sound. "Hey, Zahn. There's a guest downstairs. You might want to go and meet him." Leif sighed. "Sure." He walked downstairs and saw that he was the last one to join the group. "And this Leif Zahn. He's an exchange student living with us. Leif, this is Ulrich Schlüter." "How do you do, sir?" "Fine, thank you." Leif took his seat as Uli went back to addressing Genma. "So Genma, have you seen…you know…_him_?" "The master? No, not for a long time, nor do I hope to see him again." Uli gave a sigh of relief. "Now, Saotome, about what I was here for. On my way here, I ran into some trouble with a wild boar. Apparently I was disturbing her territory. A moderately tall young man with dark hair came out of the woods and fought it off for me. I thanked him, and saw that he wore a bandana as a headband. Since that cart I brought contains my collection of famous headgear and helmets, I wanted to thank him by giving him something of mine. "_May I give you a new headband, son_?" Ryoga looked at him. "_Sure, I guess_." Uli opened the cart and removed a dozen similar bandanas. "_This one looks…interesting_." Ryoga took a bandana of blended white and red. Uli continued. "Unfortunately, the one he took was the one I had sworn never to give out. It was the Cursèd Band of Peregrine." Akane looked at Uli. "So, this bandana's cursed?" He nodded. "Very much so. It's a long story, but I can tell it to you, if you wish." Ranma spoke up. "Sure, why not?"

"_The story begins in the year 1529 by Western Calendars_. _The Ottoman Turks were marching through Europe at an incredible rate, and were almost in what is now Austria_. _Two young men of eighteen years, both of the bourgeois, were living in the Kingdom of Styria in a town outside of Graz_. _Peregrine and Marcellus had been lifelong friends and each wore a red and white headband as a symbol of their mutual friendship_." "So, what do you think, Marcellus, should I do it?" Marcellus looked back at his friend. "Of course. You've known Constance long enough. You should go to her father." Peregrine walked out the door. "What was I doing again?" Marcellus rolled his eyes. "Proposing?" "Oh, right. Until I hear from you again, friend." "_Constance's father agreed, but they decided to enlist their services to mercenaries serving with the Viennese army_. "You want to be _what_! That's insane." Marcellus conversed back to his commander. "I know riflemen aren't taken prisoner, but the Turk don't take prisoners anyway. We both have used firearms more than most of your soldiers." "_During the siege, Peregrine was knocked unconscious while serving with Marcellus_. _He woke up… in an Ottoman slave caravan destined for Asia Minor_. "Curse you Marcellus! Why? Why did you sell me out?"

_Peregrine escaped a decade later and one year later, arrived at Constance's home in Styria_. "Marcellus! It's so good to see you. We all thought you were dead!" A small boy walked up from around her dress. "Mother, who's this man?" Peregrine stood in shock, eyes fluttering, jaw dropped. "Why this is Uncle Peregrine. He was on a long, long trip and now he's back home." Marcellus came out from a back room. "My word…Peregrine! You're back! But how did you?" Peregrine's shock turned slowly to disgust as he cinched down his eyebrows. "No thanks to you…why did you betray eleven years ago? Why did take Constance from me?" In rage, Peregrine grabbed a tall unlit oil lamp and drew it as a weapon. The boy approached him and tugged on his ragged shirt. "Please uncle. Why are you doing this?" "_Tears appeared in Peregrine's eyes as he dropped the oil lamp and ran out the door_. _Some say he went to Britain or the Orient, but all legends of him have him never finding peace for himself and continuing to errantly wander even after his death_."

Uli finished his story as most of the Tendo household stood spellbound. Nabiki and Akane looked saddened, and Kasumi was sniffling tears. "Mister Schlüter, that's…horrible. Why…did you tell us that?" Only Leif seem unfazed. "I found that headband inside the chest of an abandoned family castle in Romania. I believe that that the Cursèd Band was the headband Peregrine wore. I fear that unless it can be taken off that young man I gave it to, terrible things will happen." Ranma got up. "I know who you're talking about. Ryoga Hibiki. I guess I'll have to stop him." He glumly sighed as Uli turned to Leif. "Leif, you wouldn't happen to be the son of one Harold Zahn, would you?" Leif looked momentarily confused and then determined. "He's my…dad, why?" Uli got up, walked outside to his cart and returned with a small forest-colored velveteen rectangular box. Back inside the living room, he handed it to Leif. "Give this to…a friend. Do you understand?" Leif answered, "I do."

Ryoga wasn't in Shakuji Park, as Ranma had first suspected. "Ah man, I hope he doesn't start wandering around again, or otherwise this'll get really annoying." Akane frowned as she sat on one of the benches. "How can you say that? This is something to joke about." Ranma glared back. "Why'ja you have to tag along?" "Because, stupid, I might be able to help." Ranma rested his arms behind his head. "Sure, whatever. So, do _you_ have ideas where Ryoga might be?" Akane thought for a moment. "What about home? If he's lost and confused, then wouldn't that make sense?"

Ryoga or rather Peregrine stood in his room at the Hibiki residence staring at a small framed photo of him. "This man. I'm him, I guess. I know who he is…but…I mean I remember my own death…and then being lonely…and then being here." He glanced at the bandana lying on the desk. "Then I'm wearing my old one, I guess." Peregrine slowly started to lift the bandana off his head. A sharp cold chill of pain racked him. The more he removed it, the more disorientated he felt. Short of breath, he replaced it. "So that's why I'm here, huh? This bandana?" He heard the door open downstairs. A voice came from below. "Hey Ryoga! Will you come here for a sec? We need that bandana you're wearing!" Ryoga went over to his window and opened it. Without hesitation, he jumped out, landing gracefully outside the house in an alleyway. "_This body's really good at this sort of thing_." He then crept towards the front of the house.

"Did you hear something, Ranma?" Akane looked at him as they stood in the living room. "Yeah, it sounded like…" The sound of running footsteps emanated from in front of the house. Ranma finished his statement. "…a window opening." He ran out the door, Akane following. Ryoga was running down the street opposite the house. After skillfully dodging a bicyclist and twisting around several pedestrians, he came across a T-intersection. He twisted right, running up the wall momentarily then jumping off. Ranma followed him on the fence top while Akane followed behind on the sidewalk at a walking pace. After running another hundred yards, he ran into a dead end. Ryoga might have simply leapt across the houses, but Peregrine thought his vertical jump was confined to a couple of feet. "Ryoga, come on, stop." He looked around to see Ranma five yards away from him. "So, you're not Marcellus, are you…" Ryoga touched his forehead the word he was looking for materialized. "…Ranma Saotome. Why do you wish me to wander namelessly again forever?" Ranma looked at him, folding his arms across his chest. "Because you just happen to be messing around with the body of my friend, that's why." Peregrine grinned. "I can see inside his memories, you know. You're not his friend." Ranma scowled. "If you're not going to take that off, I'll have to take it off for you." He went into his standard fighting stance as Peregrine awkwardly mustered a boxing stance. Ranma swung first with a mild right hook. Ryoga ducked down and to his right, and then came back with an unusually right jab. Ranma easily blocked it, and used his left hand to deliver a hard uppercut that knocked the wind out of Ryoga. "Please, I don't want to do this." Peregrine grimaced, spat and let loose a series of quick punches. Ranma easily dodged them, sliding back and swaying to the rhythm. When Ryoga paused, Ranma back flipped, kicking Ryoga in the process.

Peregrine stood in Ryoga's form, staggering backwards because of the kick. He muttered under his breath. "I need…a weapon." He didn't have Ryoga's umbrella with him, but a flash of inspiration surged through him. He took off the small navy web belt and snapped it into a long blade. When Ranma lunged forth again, Ryoga blocked with both hands on the belt, easily stopping the blow. Ryoga then started a series of quick diagonal slashes that caught the pigtailed youth by surprise. After pausing to catch his breath, Ranma just barely dodged enough to avoid being skewered as Ryoga executed a sudden lunge. Ranma got back up, and decided to go on the offensive. "Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!" Ryoga slinked backward and swiftly jumped over Ranma, slashing his back open while he was turned around. Ranma coughed, and just as Ryoga was about to sunder his neck, he saw Akane. He quivered slightly, and then recognized his beloved. "Constance, it's you!" He unhinged and replaced his belt and grasped Akane's wrist. "Please Peregrine, I'm not Constance. My name is Akane Tendo." Unfazed, he smiled and replied, "You simply don't remember, that's all." As Ranma started to get back up, Ryoga picked Akane up and started to run off with her. Ranma quickly followed in pursuit. "Ryoga, you moron! She's not who you're lookin' for! You have two sets of memories, and you're getting confused!" Ryoga answered back, appropriately. "Damn you, Marcellus! Don't tell me what I can do!" Ryoga jumped over one of the hedges that led to Shakuji Park.

In the early dusk, Ranma found Ryoga and Akane on one of the benches. "Listen Ryoga, Peregrine, I don't care. But you're seriously messing around with my friend's body and I just can't allow that." Peregrine stood up. "Listen Marcellus. You ruined my life once. Why can't you allow me happiness in another form?" Akane got up and grabbed his arm. "Please, Ryoga stop!" She reached for the bandana atop his head. He stopped her, his eyes now visibly glowing an ethereal red. "Constance, if you don't remember, I can make Akane got up and grabbed his arm. "Please, Ryoga stop!" She reached for the bandana atop his head. He stopped her, his eyes now visibly glowing an ethereal red. "Constance, if you don't remember, I _can make you_ remember." Akane stood stunned as her demeanor softened and her eyes shone a light blue. "Peregrine, please, it's me. Won't you please stop?" Ranma, horrified, starting weeping. "You…bastard! What the hell have you done…to Akane?" Ranma rushed towards Ryoga, placing all of his energy into a single blow. It never connected as Ryoga simply held out his hand; a beam of red energy materialized and knocked Ranma back several yards. Constance tugged on Peregrine's arms. "Peregrine, stop. Don't hurt that man any more." "_Please, Ranma, allow me to help you_." A voice came from inside Ranma's head, but it was not his own. "Great, this is the best time for me to being hearing voices inside my head." The voice continued in a calm tone. "_No, please_. _I'm Marcellus of Graz_. _I can help you_." Ranma, fighting to stay awake and to listen answered, "How?" "_I just need to borrow your body for a minute_. _It won't hurt or anything_." "I guess you—." Ranma stood up, filled with determination. A voice spoke, but it was not that of Ranma's. "It's been a while, Peregrine." Peregrine cocked his head and then addressed Constance. "Please, stand back. We need to finish this." Marcellus laughed weakly. "Please Peregrine; just allow me to explain what I tried to tell you so long ago." Images flashed through Peregrine's eyes as his old friend and enemy spoke.

"At the Battle of Vienna, our commander decided to move our group directly out of the walls into the range of a much larger Turkish force. As his lieutenant, I argued against it, so secretly gestured to some of the Turk we fought, who then moved behind us and knocked us out." "_The caravan?_" Marcellus continued. "One of our comrades managed to drag me back to our lines, but you were captured. I later found that our commander had sold out to the Ottomans and in exchange for land, for he had intended to sell off his mercenaries as slaves. After we finished repelling the Turks, I took to horseback on one of the few remaining horses. I caught up with him a week later, and I used a captured Turkish saber to sever his head. I woke up another man sleeping at the camp and forced out of him the direction of the caravan. I returned to the nearest town to find that most of our regiment had followed me. The next morning, armed with sword and arquebus, we set off in pursuit of the slave caravan." A vision of Peregrine in chains walking across Eastern Europe came to the lost one's eyes.

"We caught up with the caravan and attacked. We managed to release all our friends, except evidently the leader of the caravan had taken you and hid during our raid." Peregrine remembered being shoved behind a low ridge. "While the rest of the group returned, since I was the new leader of the riflemen, went along with the new second-in-command and another officer pursed the slaver. A hundred miles later, they turned back. I spent the next five years of my life tracking you down, from Europe to Russia to Asia Minor to Arabia. I never found you. I returned home to find Constance's failing ailing of consumption, and her family's coffers had been severely drained. Constance's father asked me to marry her, if for nothing else but to support her. We did just that, and when you arrived six years later, I was surprised and gladdened, but you ran off before I could tell you, and we both in lived in anguish from then on." Peregrine stood humbled, crying intensely. "You did that for me? You never stole Constance?" Constance smiled at him. "No, Peregrine, he never did. Now, can we leave here and leave this people be?" With Marcellus smiling at him, Peregrine answered, "Sure. Let's go." In a flash of light, Ryoga, Ranma, and Akane fell to the ground limp. The Cursèd Band rotted quickly to dust and blew away in the evening breeze. Ranma got up. "Man, I was going after Ryoga, and how'd I end up here?" Ryoga and Akane soon came to. "Ryoga, you okay?" It was funny, seeing him without his bandana on. "Yeah, I think so. I remember being in the woods, but now I feel relaxed, almost happy. Why, would you think was wrong with me?" "Nothing." Unbeknown to the trio, an old man stood across the park, having watched the entire thing. He got up, smiled, and as he walked back to the Tendo household, spoke to himself. "My lost ancestor has now… been found."


	6. Chapter 6: Quoth the Duck:

**Chapter 6: Quoth the Duck: "My Girlfriend the Cat"**

Leif sat in his bedroom, Saturday having come a bit too early for his tastes, yet it was actually too late. He glanced at his travel alarm. It read, much to his dismay, 10:45. "_Darn it_. _I slept through it_. _Now_,_ I'll have the chance of being forced to explain something_." The _akage_ ran his fingers through his hair, finishing his casual dress of khakis and leather jacket. After disengaging the light switch, he sauntered into the hallway. The lights were mostly off in the bedrooms, and the hallway light left on. "_Odd_, _I guess they must be out_." After traversing the stairs with a still-present caution, he slunk down the hallway, when the voice that doomed him announced, "Good morning, Leif." It was Kasumi, walking out of the kitchen. "Um, thanks?" Kasumi smiled at him. "I was going to wake you, but I thought you needed the sleep." Leif resisted the subconscious urge to roll his eyes. "I've already cleared out breakfast, but I can whip you something up if you would like." His face gave a half-hearted almost-smile and replied. "Sure. Thanks." After walking into the living room, he found it empty. The Shogi board was stowed in the corner, the cushions replaced, and the TV on. A forecaster was pointing to the eastern portion of Honshu. "…And both the greater Tokyo area and Yokohama will be experiencing the blunt of this slow-moving storm. Expect a cold, long drizzle without any real rain to speak of, clearing up later this evening." Leif spoke to himself. "An English day, then. I guess I just bring the clouds with me." His thoughts were pushed aside. "Leif, will this do?" He about faced to see Kasumi, a tray in hand. In it was a fork, a bowl containing steamed rice topped with a couple of scrambled eggs and garnish and a cup of Oolong tea. "That's great Kasumi. Thanks a lot." He grabbed a cushion and sat at the table as the tray was laid before him. "Where is everyone today?" Kasumi tilted her head slightly, as if trying to remember. "Let's see. Akane and Ranma went to see that new movie, Nabiki was out with her friends, and Mr. Saotome and my father went to the airport to speak with Mr. Schlüter before he left. I don't really have any errands to run, so I'm staying here for the time being." Leif nodded. "I think I'm going to go for a walk." Kasumi blinked. "In this weather?" "Sure, why not? I've been in this type of weather before. It doesn't really bother me."

After a quick trip to his room, Leif had swapped out his standard black jacket for a weatherproofed duster coat of the same color. "I'm leaving Kasumi; I'll be back in a bit." He slid the front door closed, and walked down the steps. His breath vaporized, leaving small ephemeral clouds of mist within the air. "_It must be around forty degrees out here_. _No problem_." The air was cool, almost cold, with a slight breeze and high humidity. He closed the gate behind him. "_I know I_'_ve been by the school, to Dr_._ Ono_'_s_,_ and to that clothing store_, _but I still don't really know my way around here yet_." He took his map out from one of the inside pocket of the coat, flipped it the colored area designating the Nerima ward, and found the street intersection of the Tendo house. "_I can find my way back_." He walked on to the street perpendicular to the front of the house, and disappeared into the mist.

Leif didn't really feel like rolling up his sleeve and checking his watch, but he had guessed that he had probably walked for about a half hour. During that time, a few cars passed him, but nothing much. He had seen about ten people here and again, but no one noticed him. Most people weren't as stupid as he was in this weather. He spent most of his time just enjoying the silence of the moment, the quiet whispering of the wind interspersed with other sounds. The occasional thought popped into his mind, mostly concerning the past few days' events. "_One thing about the Tendos and the Saotomes is that their daily routines are never quite_…_routine_." His idea was interrupted by a loud clang up ahead. There were two cats, one attacking the other. The assailant had just knocked over a garbage can on to the other cat with uncanny accuracy. Leif ran forward. The large calico was batting the other cat, which he could see was a smaller pinkish near-albino cat. "Hey, knock it off!" The calico looked up, then disregarded him. "Get away from her, dang it!" Leif lightly kicked the calico. It stopped, looked at him with almost contempt, and daintily walked off into the distance. Leif picked up some of the things that had fallen out of the can, and put the lid back on. He got on his knees and examined the albino feline. It was dirtied, had slash marks across its body, and most likely had a head injury, from the can falling on it. The cat was frightened by Leif looking it in the face, and tried to get up, yet could do nothing more than merely twitch on the pavement. Leif checked his pockets, and found an antiseptic towelette in his wallet. He tore it open, threw the wrapper in the trash can, and examined it. It was somewhat old, but still clean. He picked up the cat, which offered little resistance. It was female, as he had suspected, and had a plain collar of chain with a charm on it. No address. He ran it over the cat's wounds, to which she squirmed, and then tried to get some of the mud from between her fur. "You're just like Kiko back home then. She doesn't like to be cleaned either, except if she does it herself. Come on, I need to address some of those injuries back home, and then find who you belong to." He cradled the cat in his arms, and started walking back to the house.

The cat came to as Leif reached the front gate of the house. "It's okay, don't worry girl. I just want to help you." The cat relaxed. Leif felt better than he had been earlier, possibly because of the cat. "Kasumi, I'm home." She walked in to greet him. "I found her about six blocks away, hurt. Would you mind if I put some antiseptic on her and look for her owners? She's got this chain around her neck, so I don't think she's a stray." The cat stayed calm. Kasumi beamed and then became slightly more serious. "Oh, that's so kind of you, Leif. Although I should warn you, Ranma doesn't like cats." One of Leif's red-orange eyebrows rose slightly. "Is he allergic?" "Not really…more afraid than anything else." Leif grew slightly confused. "Ranma, the martial artist extraordinaire, afraid of common housecats?" Kasumi nodded meekly. "I'll keep that in mind, then."

Leif set the cat down, and hung up his coat. He then hoisted the cat up, carrying it carefully to the bathroom, where it laid it down in the bathtub. "You just wait there a second, okay?" The cat gave no complaint. In the medicine cabinet behind the mirror was a brown bottle of hydrogen peroxide, the formula H202 in large Roman letters above the Japanese text. (It was three percent.) He opened it, and carefully rinsed the cat's wounds as the liquid fizzed. Most of the small incisions were almost entirely clotted, so the cat was in no further danger of infection. However, it was still muddy and a bit scuffed. Leif took the cat out of the tub, turned on the water, mixing the faucets until it was lukewarm. He took the nozzle of the shower head, and sprayed the cat. It hollered, and suddenly, its shape changed. There, no more than two feet away from Leif, was a girl about his own age, with nearly purple hair and a smile on her face. And she, of course, was not wearing any clothing.

Leif's mind had gone into a more than momentary mental shock after he fell backwards onto the tile floor. After his breathing slowed down and he blinked, he sighed slightly. The girl nodded her head and addressed him. "Thank you. You living with Tendos?" Leif watched her hair follow her head as it tilted slightly. "Yeah, I'm an exchange student." She smiled. "You know, you are cute as Ranma?" She slinked forward on her hands. Leif pushed her away, and started to stand up. The girl laughed, and with seemingly little effort, grabbed him by the collar, yanked him to the floor, and hugged him with a heavy grasp. "Wait!" Leif, to his surprise managed to dodge a kiss and get up. Subconsciously he touched his face, revealing a small trickle of blood originating from his nose. His face gained a temporary look of irritation and slight disgust. "I'm Leif; would you mind telling me your name?" She nodded. "Shampoo." Shampoo looked at him. "Could you take Shampoo to Cat Café?" "I think I've heard of it. But how are you going to get there, unless you were planning to borrow some clothes?" "You know Ranma's curse?" "Yeah, the Jusenkyo thing, right? How does it work backwards?" Shampoo then subconsciously placed her hands on her hips. Leif's eyes stayed carefully glued to her face, noticing that one of the welts on her face was analogous to one she had had as a cat. "What, you stupid? Cold water is the reverse." "Then hold still." Leif took the shower nozzle. Shampoo's vocalized protest quickly turned into a meow before the end of the word. "No hard feelings, okay?" Leif picked up the scowling cat, dried her off, and carried her out the door.

A few seconds later, he had his duster back on and stood at the front door. Leif checked his watch and then lightly yelled into the next room. "Kasumi, I found out who the cat belongs to! I'm returning her and then going out for lunch!" Leif, trusty map and somewhat-squirming cat in hand, managed to find the restaurant in question about a mile away. As soon as Shampoo noticed the sign above the entryway, she hopped up to his shoulder and lightly licked him on the cheek. Leif simply rolled his eyes. "You're the new one at the Tendo household, aren't you? Then pray tell, what are doing with my granddaughter?" Leif looked to see a crinkled crone of a woman, undoubtedly ancient, and undoubtedly short, perhaps two and half feet tall with a large gnarled staff nearly twice her height. "I found her, I guess, jumped by another cat. I treated her wounds and she asked me to bring her back home." Leif kneeled and the cat hopped off his shoulders and ran inside. The crone raised an eyebrow. "Interesting. I told her not to do deliveries in this weather, but oh well. Thank you, Mr. Zahn." Leif's eyes twitched slightly. "How did you—?" She chuckled. "Well, Leif, news travels fast. I'm also up to date on things related to my future son-in-law. Thanks for the trouble." "You're welcome, um..." The woman nodded. "Cologne." Leif blinked, and watched as the woman went inside. Leif checked his watch. It was a little past one. "Something that Gosunkugi boy said the other day...I guess I could pay Miss Ukyo a visit."

One phone book and several minutes later, Leif found himself at a restaurant, Ukyo's Okonomiyaki, at which he might feel moderately more welcome. After sliding the door open, he walked inside to find the establishment empty. "Hello?" Leif then heard the clunking of stairs and then Ukyo Kuonji appeared, her hair still slightly wet.

"Oh, Leif? Nice to see you. Sorry, I was upstairs. Did you come for food or for conversations?" Leif glanced at the placards at the side wall. "Will both work?" "Sure." Ukyo fired up the gas beneath the counter, as Leif held out his duster's tail and sat a stool. "So, I hear ya' really lost it Monday. Our crazy school gettin' to you, or what?" "No. It's nothing. It was more exaggerated than anything. I'm fine." Ukyo raised her eyebrows slightly. "Sure doesn't sound fine. Are you sure you're okay? You seem kinda out there." Leif looked up at her. "My morning was only moderately disturbing. I went for a walk. I found an injured kitty. I took it home, washed it, and it changed into girl named Shampoo who after trying to tackle me asked if I would take her home. I ended up doing just that." Leif had managed to explain his day as of yet without changing his tone of voice. "Hmm... What'll you have, sugar?" "The special, hold the onion, and add..." Leif hesitated. "...noodles and lots of shrimp." Ukyo nodded. "Knowing Shampoo, it sounds like you're in good with her. Did you enjoy the little liaison?" Ukyo cocked a sly grin. Leif stood up, slammed his hands on the table and moved his just a few inches in front of Ukyo's face. "And what exactly do you mean by that?" Ukyo just blinked at him and glanced briefly downward. He looked down and noticed his palms, face down, rested on the griddle surface at the back of the table. Leif's eyes widened slightly and twitched as a now steaming hissing sound was burning the moisture from his hands. He got up, without a word, and asked, "Would you happen to have a sink I could use, please?" She looked right, gesturing at the sink behind the counter. Leif briskly walked over there. Using his forearms, he turned on the cold water and let his hands be splashed with the appropriately icy water. Ukyo chuckled slightly. "Zahn, you're weird as anyone else around here, but in your own, special way. Order's ready."

Leif sat back down as his order was placed in front of him. "Ukyo, do you have any silverware…like…a fork or a knife?" Ukyo looked at him. "Yeah, but what kinda person eats okonomiyaki with a—…" Leif interrupted her. "I do." Ukyo shook her head. After a few bites, Leif looked up. "You know, with all the stress in my life recently, if I was 20, I'd be asking for a shot glass filled with 80-proof." Leif smirked and laughed quietly. "…but instead, could I get a glass of water?" Ukyo stepped over to the sink and started talking. "I don't really have a lot of customers today; it's the weather over anything else. So, even if it's just for entertainment, would ya' mind telling me what's been going on, sugar?" Leif frowned ever so slightly. "I really don't like where this is headed. Perhaps…sometime later, okay?" Ukyo smirked. "_I don't think someone is telling me the whole truth_. _Of course_, _I can find out what the heck has been going on with Leif lately myself if I have to_." She smiled. "Sure." Leif went back to his plate and started eating.

A few minutes and one "thank you" later, Leif's spirits and wallet were slightly lightened as he started walking home. "_I still have some homework to do_. _I really hate Riemann sums_. _Useless, useless, and useless_." His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of loud, odd-sounding footsteps in the distance. He looked behind him to see nothing. "That's odd. Hmm…" He shrugged and walked on. A few seconds later, he quickly turned around, duster trailing behind him. There was a flash of something reflective at the next street corner which quickly disappeared. "_Someone's following me, huh_? _Well, I know just the place to meet him_." Leif took out his map, quickly glanced at it, and grinned.

Leif adjusted his coat as he sat down on one of the benches in the middle of Shakuji Park. He felt unusually smug, but managed to at least keep the semblance of attention. After changing which leg was crossed parallel to the ground, he sighed slightly and checked his watch. The sky was slightly lighter than before, and slightly warmer as well, but still thoroughly overcast. "_I'd figured my unbeknownst assailant would have been here by now_." Leif's thought was not in vain, as without warning, a "thwack" came from the bench, about a foot to the left of him. He turned to look, and embedded in the wooden backrest was a steel throwing knife with a crimson ribbon trailing from it. Leif got up. "Listen, I know you've been following me, so show yourself!" Nothing happened. Leif saw a flash of something white from the trees, and moved a few feet as two more throwing knives hit the side of the bench where he had been sitting. Out from the thicket of trees just off the path emerged what Leif had been seeking. It was a moderately-sized domestic white duck wearing thick coke-bottle lensed glasses. Clutched between two of the primary feathers in its right wing was a throwing knife.

Leif stood in disbelief. "All this time, I've been stalked by a duck?" The duck dropped the knife, and then proceeded to quack at him while flailing its wings. Leif simply watched. The duck, as if struck by inspiration, went behind one of the trees. Leif tilted his head slightly as he heard the clanging of something metallic, the din and sight of hissing steam, and then the rustling of something cloth. A young man about Leif's age, perhaps a bit older, emerged from the tree. The teen was wearing a long, white, baggy robe with a geometric emblem. He had long, loose black hair, and, as Leif noted, the same thick glasses resting on his forehead. "I've finally found you, Leif Zahn. So nice of you to wait for me. Ranma would have simply run back home." Leif approached him. "And you would be…?" The man smiled, and placed his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "The hair of the inferno itself…ah, forgive me. You may call me…Mousse." Leif blinked. "_First Shampoo_, _next Cologne_, _and now Mousse_. _What next_?" Mousse chuckled a few times, then pointed his right index finger at Leif, his loose sleeve barely keeping up. "However, your actions towards my significant other are unacceptable. I will not be some wittol who idly stands by and allows this to happen!" Leif was befuddled. "And that would be…?" Mousse sneered. "Don't mock me, Leif! My girlfriend, the cat called Shampoo." "What are you talking about? Why are so upset?" Mousse bared his teeth. "Why must you patronize me? You brought Shampoo home with you, took her to bath with you, and saw her in the nude, you lascivious bastard! I heard…I heard that she even _kissed you_." The robed man was now noticeably quivering with rage. Leif know that behind those opaque glasses rested eyes of flame. "Cologne told me all about it. Do you _know how long_ I've been trying to get into her good graces? And you, Mr. Famous Exchange Student have to go and muck things up. You will not leave this place conscious. I shall guarantee that."

"_I suppose, by this point, negotiation is out of the question_." Leif sighed to himself. "I'll tell you right now that you're angry out of an exaggeration. However, you don't seem too receptive to ideas right now, so why don't you just cut with the accusations and attack me?" Mousse flashed him a toothy grin. "Gladly, Mr. Zahn." Mousse crossed his arms, his hands and wrists disappearing into the loose sleeves of his tunic. They emerged with two throwing knives, similar to those that were still in the park bench behind the pair. Leif put up his hands…and realized something was amiss. He turned around, quickly glancing at the fountain and its environs. His staff was noticeably absent. Then, it dawned on him. "_I left it_…_at the Saotomes_…" "Oh no…oh no." Leif started laughing, somewhat uncontrollably. "_How could I have been so_…" His thought was interrupted by the flash of a knife being twirled in his opponent's right hand. Mousse effortlessly stopped it so that it stood blade up, between his index and middle fingers. And just as effortlessly, it _left_ his fingers. Leif launched himself to the right, throwing himself onto the pavement, as the first knife flew silently above the middle of his back. A swift right kick into the ground pivoted Leif, who was still prone, sideways just enough to dodge the second knife, which hit brick with noticeable "clink". He did a half-roll face-up, and with a backwards roll, found himself in a crouch, facing his feathered assailant, who was still beaming his demonic grin. His left palm found one of the plain steel knives with accompanying streamer and he quickly switched it to his right hand as he got up. Mousse stood hands clasp in front of him, as if patiently waiting. Leif cocked his elbow, and with a substantial amount of effort, flung the knife directly at him. Mousse cocked a grin as, instinctually, his left arm reached out and caught the projectile by the handle, the blade still pointing toward him. "Not bad, Leif. Not bad at all. However, I think I'm done playing." The knife returned to the overgrown sleeves while his right hand returned with something else in his grasp.

Mousse clenched his right fist, put it up to his left shoulder, and simply remarked, "Catch". A pair of oval, whitish stones flew at Leif, who simply crossed his arms in front of him. One of the two eggs detonated against his left arm, the other hitting him softly, but squarely in the chest. The blast and burning embers of black powder singed him, leaving the _akage_ stunned and temporarily blinded. Just as his mind started unfogging itself, Leif was hit with another pair of impacts. The two chain-link bolas that had shot out of Mousse's sleeves had started wrapping themselves around the midsection of his coat. Although his hands were free, the youth could do nothing about the chains, which tightened in opposite directions. As he tried to wedge his fingers between one of the loops to try and relieve his ribs, the two diamond-shaped weights ran out of chain and hit him, both in the center of the chest. He gasped for breath only to find that his wind had left his chest. Mousse had started laughing in a chilled and repetitive manner. Within moments, Leif found his feet leaving the ground as the chains tightened laterally. The self-proclaimed practitioner of the "dark arts" now had his quarry spinning in tight circle of no more than ten feet as if he were participating in the human hammer throw. Mousse edged back towards the thicket, and at the appropriate time, the ends of the chains detached themselves from him, leaving his catch flying at the nearest tree. Leif, still bound, hit the oak. Every part of his body burned momentarily…until his spinning grey-and-white phosphenes in his eyes went entirely black.

Leif awoke to silence. Even before he opened his eyes, he felt the cool rush of evening air wash over him. Although his chest and limbs were in the grey area between numb and burning, his head was worse. The teen just laid there, his head in too much pain to conceive of any conscious thought. Little by little, some of his senses returned. Although most of him was lying on the cobbled-brick pavement, his legs were elevated on something. So was his head. His slowly breathed in, only to have his nose sting, though he couldn't tell if it was the result of smelling something or just the after-effects of the impact—perhaps it was both. Suddenly, Leif's eyes sprang open. He found himself staring at a sunset partially obscured by the heavy, partially-overcast sky, while the top of a tree occupied the lower portion of his visual range. His head slowly fell to the right, at which he felt what his head was leaning on. "_Fabric_? _It's…warm_." He thought he heard a muted sniffle as he stayed where his was, his mind literally empty.

A few minutes later, Leif started to notice that the muscles in his arms and legs no longer felt like lead. As he started to lift his head up, a pair of hands helped him sit upright. Needles and pins of numbness ran through his head before they resided and were promptly replaced by throbbing blood vessels. He glanced slightly down to see his bowed legs resting on top of a small backpack. "I'm so glad you're awake." The female voice barely fazed him, but as he started to turn around, she added, "No, wait, stay there. I'll come around." The girl got up and walked around to the front-left of Leif's view. She was wearing a white, button-up blouse and a long blue skirt. It was Hiroko Yamane. "What happened, Leif?" Leif glanced his blank eyes at her and said nothing. "I was walking home and I found you unconscious. Are you okay? Can you understand me?" Leif managed to get something like a nod out of his neck. He blinked a few times, then inhaled sharply. "_Wait a minute…I was laying on her _skirt!" He rolled his eyes to the right slowly as his still-headache-racked brain produced the thought. "Do…you need me to help walk you home?" Leif opened his mouth momentarily and closed it. "Cer…tainly." She smiled weakly. Leif firmly added, "Not." Leif put a hand down, and with some effort, managed to slowly stand up. His head felt like it was weightless. As he started to fall over, Hiroko quickly stood up, and caught him. "You silly." She shifted from her improvised hug, placing Leif's left arm behind her head and her right arm under his right armpit, trying to prop him up. Leif, his head significantly less clouded, felt the unwanted embrace, and coldly added, "Leave me…alone." He pulled his left arm away, shoved her arm out from under his, and walked away from Hiroko, leaving the girl with a wistful look on her face.

By the time he reached the Tendos, Leif's incoherency had faded to a simple severe headache. The front gate and front door proved to be no difficulty. He slipped off his shoes and began climbing the staircase, when he heard the sounds of plates clinking together, signaling either the beginning or end of the evening meal; he didn't care. Pushing the strange thirst in his mouth aside, Leif opened the door at the end of the hall. He was going straight to bed, so he left the light off. After closing the door behind him, Leif began walking over to the head of the bed. His head tingled again, and numbness crept into his limbs. "_Wait…not…_" His feet gave way, his body collapsing on the floor as blackness overtook him.


	7. Chapter 7: Nightmare

**Chapter 7: Nightmare**

As Leif's senses suddenly returned, the void before him quickly raced away from him, leaving level ground at the edge of a forest of evergreens behind him. It appeared to be just past dusk, and the foggy, somewhat cool air was ethereally silent. A slight, hushed zephyr crept across the tree tops. Leif found himself plodding slowly forward across the ground. The dirt path seemed to be free of loose gravel, as it too made not a sound.

Beyond the edge of the trees was a small streambed that ran perpendicular to the path. It looked long dry and the footpath simply dipped down the yard of elevation before rising back up to its original elevation. He felt nothing as he passed over it and after a few more seconds, a vast stone wall emerged from the fog. Leif's hand came out of the sleeves of his duster and went up by its own accord, and as it reached out towards the mortared grey stone, the obstacle proved no impediment as his palm easily passed through it. Leif sharply inhaled and pulled his hand back as the realization of the past second hit him. He pulled his hand out of the wall and looked at it. His complexion was unusually pale; in fact, it looked more like that of a specter than that of a human. "This dream isn't right. My dreams are lucid; I should be able to will myself solid." Leif's avatar focused and with his eyes closed, tried again. His hand did not meet the cold stone but again went beyond it. "What's wrong with me tonight? I know this is a dream, but I'm not a normal person. I should be able to control this like second nature. I've been doing it for years. I suppose there is one thing left." He closed his eyes, raised his right arm to his chin, and vocally counted to three. On three, he sunk his teeth into his arm. There was no pain; he did not wake himself. "So, I'm stuck as a ghost in my own dream. Fair enough. I wonder if..." Leif bent his knees and jumped upward. He stayed hovering perfectly still two feet off the ground. "Well, that explains the ditch." He took a step forward to find that he had advanced as far as he would have on solid ground. With a bit of thought, he floated forward through the stone wall as the stillness was replaced with the crackle of torches. He found himself staring at the back of a mostly red tapestry that stood mounted on front of the wall.

The giant textile was probably more spectacular on the front, but the silver and gold threads woven into it portrayed a scene of mounted knights that was probably based on a crusade. "So, what do you think of our position, then?" Leif heard a loud, gruff voice that sounded as if came from the end of the hallway. Another, somewhat lighter male voice responded. "Hard to say. Until our courier returns, we really don't know." Leif put his hand forward only to find that it stopped at the wall hanging, causing the tapestry to rock fore and aft. "Did you see that?" "See…what?" "Over there, by the wall, that tapestry just moved. Seemed too large to just be the breeze down these blasted corridors." Leif heard the sound of determinate, measured footsteps coming towards him. He held his breath. He glanced at his skin's complexion—he was still as pallid as a corpse. A tall man appeared at the left edge of the tapestry, wearing hardened leather over a short tunic. He stared right through Leif, and turned his head before scowling. "Nope. Nothing here. Damn it, I must be doing daft." Leif edged to the right and walked out around the tapestry. Except for the nearly-silent taps of his feet against the stone floor, he was silent, and thus, the two mean guarding the door at the end of the hallway didn't notice him. He walked to the opposite wall, and found his hand again found no obstacle. After a few moments' darkness, he found himself outside in the coming twilight, floating fifteen feet above the ground.

Leif stood motionless on the edge of a vast courtyard. The outer wall and the keep in general appeared to be built on a slight hill, with the downward slope before him. Slightly left and forward was a vast, square tower that sat at one edge of the three-story tall outer wall. He turned around, glancing back at the way he came. The fog appeared to be creeping further in; perhaps it was merely the limits of the dream. He suddenly found himself gliding down the hill towards the rest of the structure. He caught speed as he sped over a footpath, and went entirely through another of the castle's guards as he stopped in a covered pathway and found his feet touch solid ground again. Ahead of him seemed to be the tower, while to his right lay the front of the complex. He found himself jumping over the rows of terraced steps, landing effortlessly and continuing onward.

Leif actually found himself trying to open the door at the end of the courtyard when his hand vanished into the doorknob. Merely thinking himself through the door solved the problem. He stood in a corridor roughly parallel to the first one with the tapestry and the guards, and after floating down the hallway, he walked down a flight of stairs to find himself out in the open again. A single stroke of thunder signaled the beginning of rain, with the dark drops slowly and evenly plunging towards the ground. Leif thought nothing of it as he surveyed his surroundings. He found himself on the main road through the castle, with a similar staircase and a matching corridor in front of him. As soon as the rain actually hit him, it grabbed his attention. The rain passed through him as if he were not there, but it felt as if an army of minute icy spears was being run through him. Every time a drop went through him, a vague outline appeared around his pale form and his skin shimmered silver ever-so-slightly. "_If this keeps up, someone might be able to see me_." To his right was a giant gate that went into a covered area, probably the inner gate to the entire complex. Leif took the small access door inset into the gate building, and found that his situation had been reversed, and was blocked from floating through the door. "_Is this the rain that's doing it_?" He quietly opened the door, and walked inside.

As soon as he closed the door from the inside, his corporeality ended and his slight transparency returned. Four guards stood watch over the area, two on a side, guarding the large gate, while the stone awning stood in front of it, supported by massive pillars into the dirt floor. Leif paused for a moment and watched as his vision temporarily went grey before bursting back into the subdued colors of the evening. "_Now how do I get out of this_?_ I could wait for it to be over_, _but with the way things are going_, _I think I'll be dragged into what my subconscious is deciding_._ I could try to _'_win_'_, but I suppose that would difficult considering I'm lacking my usual abilities_. _Or, I could die here in this dream_. _It's certainly happened before_, _though I suppose taking that route makes it a nightmare_._ I don't recognize this castle at all, but this whole thing seems like it's the tiniest bit familiar_." Leif's silent, lucid, monologue was interrupted by the sound of rapid hooves that slowed as a horse and cloaked rider came into view. The guards instinctively readied their halberds. A forced, choking voice emanated from beneath the riding clothes. "Please…message for our lord. Can't wait." One of the guards looked up, seeming to recognize the voice. "Hail Afton! Lord be praised, it's Afton the messenger! Good sir, we'd all thought you dead!" Leif's field of view suddenly appeared to suck itself to a singularity before him, and in a blink, he stood inside what could only be called an audience chamber.

Leif stood beside a dais that held the chair of what must be the lord of the castle. He was on the edge of elderly, with greyed hair, a short beard and mustache, and although his face was crossed with lines, they only seemed to make him more determined. Another pair of guardsmen stood flanking their master. The man before him was stumbling into genuflection. "My lord…I bring news…though it is unpleasant." The man, with bloodshot eyes and bloodied hair was clearly the messenger. Every word he said seemed to drain him ever further. The lord smiled. "By all mean Afton, please, say what needs be said." Afton nodded, took a deep breath, and began. "Ivan…Ivan the Necromancer…has destroyed four of the neighboring villages, burning…them to the ground this very night. I was sent by your son…" The guard closest to Leif started muttering to himself. "Ivan…that black-hearted shape-shifter uses so much black magic he makes Faust seem a saint. What could he possibly want with us?" "My lord…Ivan marches here, with his army of dark partisans and blacker things…this very night. Your son wishes that…you…protect the lady Sidonia…his daughter." The lord sighed slowly, closing his eyes breathing deeply. "No one… in all of the six kingdoms has ever stood against Ivan the Necromancer…every one resisting has been put to the sword in a night's time, and all those surrendering have met with fates much worse than death. I think the hour is upon this old man. Thank you Afton. I will protect the girl." Afton nodded, and without further warning, coughed up a large amount of his own blood. "I'm sorry…my lord…in escaping…one of his cursèd blades inflicted me with poison." Afton grimaced as grabbed his right sleeve, and with tremendous effort, ripped it off. A large, bloody gash was over his forearm. The wound was festering and instead of red, was deep ebony. The rider suddenly convulsed his right arm began twitching. "Please…stop this…you must…" The convulsions spread, and Afton fell forward, deep before his head touched the floor.

The lord stifled a sniffle as he tried soothing his senses. "Fogarty, tell Sidonia and her bodyguard to take what they need and leave immediately; tell them to take to take the forest path to the northwest and get as far away as they can." The guard on the lord's left nodded, quickly bowed, and jogged off into an adjacent room. The other guard, still standing a few yards in front of Leif, adjusted his armor, as worry crept onto his face. Afton's body seemed to twitch slightly. The guard stole a glance, and sighed moments before a cacophonous screech emanated from the late messenger. A horrible cracking of bones sounded from the corpse, and as Leif watched, the flesh from his extremities quickly melted into dust, leaving what was quickly becoming an ashen skeleton slowly reaching upward. "Forgive me, Afton." The man stepped forward and in one continuous motion, readied his polearm, and with the axe sundered the skeleton's head, before returning the weapon to its vertical position. The monstrosity crumbled to the floor and fell silent. Abruptly, the guard about faced and looked up at Leif, or rather _through_ Leif. The latter noticed that the man's hazel eyes were sparkling brilliant orange and red, as if they had caught the reflection of fire. Dozens of sounds filtered through the stone walls of the building. The attack had begun.

"Bodyguard, it's about time. You surprised me though…" Leif looked down at himself to find that he had become completely solid. "…didn't expect you to fall out of thin air. Heck, with that sort of thing, we might stand a chance. I'm Stenson. The princess is already leaving through the northwest path with Fogarty, so I'm sure she'll be fine. You just missed Lord Arram, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you helped us out a bit before catching up with Lady Sidonia." Leif stared the guard in the face, who seemed several times more relieved than he had been just a minute earlier. "Sorry, I…was observing, I didn't bring any weapons with me." The guard grinned. "No problem. The double doors behind me and to the left of the throne…take it and take the stairwell down to the armory. Grab whatever you think you find useful." "Thanks." "Thank you, and good luck out there. Ivan's not backing down tonight."

Past the cherry woods doors was a short corridor with a dead end that had been converted into storage, and a large circular stone stairwell was set into the right wall. Numerous narrow (and thus, slightly perilous) steps later, Leif found a darkened room that had windows set high along one wall that danced with the flaming shadows of the grounds, but was otherwise entirely underground. He shivered and watched his skin go semi-transparent again. The walls were lined with wooden racks and cases. The wall across the room from the stairwell had racks half-full of halberds that seemed like the standard armament for the castle. Other racks were filled with light lances, pikes, and broadswords. Leif lifted one of the swords and found that it stayed solid although he wasn't. "_Darn it_. _That would be a dead give-away_. _Isn't there anything that_…" Leif's eyes rested on wooden box resting on a nondescript table near the center of the room. The lid, which slid on sideways, was removed, revealing a lined interior and a strange looking dagger—it was too large to be a dagger, yet it resembled a knife more than a short sword. The hilt was straight, finished in fine leather and ending in a pommel that curved into a half-crescent. The blade was slightly curved in direction opposite the pommel. It was double-edged, grooved in the middle, and stayed somewhat wide until the tip. Furthermore, the blade seemed to be covered with tiny ice crystals. Leif touched the handle. A shock of cold numbed his right hand before it slowly warmed, revealing that the dagger had instantly become semi-transparent and had gained the same small outline that Leif had. "_This is it_."

Leif spent the next several minutes backtracking, only to find that he had unexpectedly "jumped" only a few chambers away, where a lone guard was holding off two human assailants in chain, one zombie in plate armor, and some type of incorporeal being. Using careful sidesteps and constant "windmill" swings parallel to the ground, the guard managed to dodge the spirit's pointed fingers while keeping the rest of the crew at bay. The man changed one of his windmills into a thrust, and with the tip, impaled one of Ivan's mercenaries before lunging forward and decapitating the zombie. It was then that the other human, who seemed to be dressed indicative of a foot soldier higher in stature, sliced him open from behind down the spinal cord. The spirit caught wind of Leif's ghostly form, and when it charged him, Leif touched the dagger to the ghost, who screamed before dissolving. The backstabber looked up from his kill before relaxing his gaze. After floating a few yards forward, Leif flipped the dagger in his right hand, and he swung right. The dagger effortlessly pierced the man's skull through the left temple. The last of assassin's breath gurgled out of his mouth as he crumpled to the floor.

The next few skirmishes went similarly. The more threatening enemies couldn't see the acting bodyguard and the invisible dagger cut through almost anything cleanly. The castle's guards were more skilled than the attackers, but hopelessly outnumbered, even in the small rooms where they fought. Leif found a door outside, and reeled in how much of the complex was in flames. The majority of the troops had been fighting towards the center path, and both gates had been ripped from their hinges. Among the corpses was a set of footprints…an _enormous_ set of footprints that led towards the castle's tallest tower. With a couple of short hops, Leif's feet left the ground and he flew with increasing speed towards and into the tower.

On the second floor of the tower was a throne room similar to the one above the armory, although more grandly decorated, and much larger. The Lord Arram was there, bloodied, holding a longsword while a group of five halberdiers stood in front of him. Between Leif and the Lord at the end of the long rectangular hall were a few of what looked to be like Ivan's best human footmen and the most undoubtedly evil creature Leif had ever laid eyes upon. The beast was easily nine feet tall, with stone gray skin and scraggly hair and two lank arms that ended in massive fists. It was an ogre. The fiend advanced forward slowly, and Leif heard what sounded like laughter, slow and deep from the ogre as its allied squad simply watched, a few of the men's faces showing maniacal grins while the others watched solemnly. Leif's dagger found its mark in the guard standing in the back corner. Two of the Lord's guards advanced at the ogre. The monster's left fist found one guard and flung the hapless man into the wall with enough force to crack his skull on impact. The other fist was clenched straight down and maimed the second guard. Leif's threw his dagger at the soldier. It rematerialized after leaving his hands and found its mark. The two armored men in front of him turned around just in time to see their comrade fall. One flashed a hand signal, and then they both withdrew their swords. Leif floated over to the body and retrieved his weapon as it again meshed with his invisibility. One of the soldiers did a horizontal swipe that gave Leif a sudden chill as the blade passed harmlessly through him. A quick glide forward and Leif went through the man, his dagger punching a hole through his chest. He followed it up with a diagonal slash on the remaining, bewildered man, and he fell as well.

The ogre had long disposed of the guardsmen and now effortlessly held the aged Lord Arram around the neck with one huge fist. The creature growled. "What do you want of me, monster?" The creature turned its head considering this. It grinned as its skin rippled and pulsed with a deep scarlet light and finally contracted inward creating the form of what could only be Ivan the Necromancer. Even as a human, he was nearly seven feet tall, with a long black robe edged in violet, raven-black hair, and unearthly red eyes. "I am quite the monster, now aren't I, Arram, you miserable old codger." Ivan's voice was as sweet as honey and as serious as his army's poisoned blades. "Contrary to what you hear, I _do_ leave survivors from time to time, provided they cooperate. Now, tell me, good sir…where is the location of your foolish brother's secret treasury? I know that the little minx will be leaving this castle through one of your brother's old tunnels. I simply don't know _which_ one. You could save me quite a lot of time." Leif walked along the carpet slowly towards the villain. Arram strained for breath under Ivan's fist, which was still large enough to clamp his neck by itself. "What does a young girl just a title, no chance of inheritance, and no fortune matter to a destroyer of kingdoms?" Ivan smiled without showing his teeth. "I don't need to answer that question. Now, I can either crush you like a grape, or perhaps do something more creative." "Do what you will. I was living on time borrowed, and I shall tell you nothing." As Leif approached within six yards, Ivan stood to attention. "Stop right there, bodyguard. It's a clever and well-built spell, but why don't we drop it _right now_? Oh, and as for you, foolish king of nothing, enjoy a few extra minutes of borrowed time." Ivan pushed out his arm and threw the Lord down, landing him on the throne in a jumbled mess of dislocated bones.

"You think you're too good for me, eh, bodyguard?" Ivan turned around and stared down at Leif's specter, revealing the polished ebony plate armor that adorned his chest. "_Resconstre destrmo!_" With a single, powerful gesture, the chill left Leif's bones and he stood, fully solid before the necromancer. "_There's a window directly behind me, made of plain glass with no crossbars_." Leif spun on right foot, and bolted. His speed seemed to constantly increase as he covered the length of the hall in mere seconds before he crossed his arms in front of him and broke through the glass. Time seemed to stop, and Leif found himself next to a damp wagon of hay that stood directly below the window. All around him flames danced and the screams of women, children and dogs filled the air. The men were already dead. "_Damn it! Why am I so weak? This is my dream; I should be able to kill him by blinking!_" Leif found himself running at the same blistering pace; crossing paths he had floated over as he reached the top of the hill and found a small side gate, broken open that led into the woods northwest of the castle.

At least after sprinting what must have been a good kilometer Leif didn't feel the least bit winded. As he approached the canopy of thick deciduous tree he shivered and on a hunch, looked down to see that he again transformed into his ghostly other self. Leif concentrated on floating and was soon flying forward at pace slightly faster that of his sprint. "_Footprints_?" On the soft dirt path was a pair of imprints leading on the further down the winding but wide path. Several minutes later, a soft trickle of sound filtered into the wind between the treetops. It soon grew into a low roar as the forest split into two distinct sides and the path widened.

A low wooden fence sat in front of the river. In front of was a girl. "_She looks familiar…somehow_." The girl's dirtied hair was a strange hue somewhere between purple and black, and the emerald eyes that looked a few steps above dead. Her dress was ornate, but just as soiled as her hair. Leif looked at her. "Sidonia?" The girl, who might barely pass at fifteen, lifted her heavy head. "Leif…you must…" The girl sighed as she sank into unconsciousness, or perhaps, worse. Suddenly the youth felt a pain in his chest, as if he was being drawn by a noose around his heart. Leif opened his eyes to find that against his will, he was being drawn forward slowly before his ghostly form suddenly was yanked forward and collided with Sidonia.

The fog soon cleared from Leif's mind. He was sitting against the fence, and every muscle surged with the burning sensation of lactic acid. A sudden gust more powerful than the night breeze blew his hair into his face. Leif took his hand and moved the long purplish-black strands off his nose. "_Wait a minute…_" Leif looked at the hair and then at the hand, which was slender, delicate, and fine-featured. "Crap." The voice was the girl's. "Okay, this is nice. How exactly did this happen?" Leif, or Sidonia, or whoever the person had become was answered by the distant sound of hooves. Ivan was coming. Leif found the nearest break in the fence at which stood a gravel ford. She ran across it, wincing at the cold water, but continued onward. The dirt path led to farmland.

The girl was already tired, but she continued on pure fear. She ran past rows of barley and millet, and ducked to her right through a high row of wheat. The hooves grew ever closer. The far edge of the field, Sidonia stumbled and collapsed; her left foot had found a rabbit's hole hidden by the stalks. She winced and looked at her ankle, which was bleeding profusely and a small bit of bone shone between the blood stains. She could only drag herself to a lone post and cringe in the pain that rocked her left leg. It was then that the Horsemen had arrived. Four black steeds with four black riders surrounded her. The lead dismounted. It was Ivan, grinning like mad under his unearthly red ears and raven hair. "Forgive me, milady, but I like my ends tied up." From underneath his black robe Ivan retrieved an impossibly large zweihander sword. "Please…don't." Ivan tilted his head and laughed his chilling laugh. He readied his sword, which now seemed to pulse and ebb with the same unnatural crimson light that sat anchored in the necromancer's eyes. The girl put up her hand as if to shield herself. Ivan was efficient. His horizontal slash effortlessly severed Sidonia's hand at the wrist before it took her head with it. Her headless body fell limp and wet onto the dirt at the edge of the wheat field. Ivan was smiling.

Leif awoke to find that his face had painfully copied the weave of the carpet. He was abnormally thirsty even before the drops of sweat ran down his face and into his mouth. He stood up in the darkened room, and found his travel alarm obediently reading "3:40 a.m." The boy found his way downstairs by hanging on to the railing and stumbled into the darkened bathroom where he feebly found the light switch. Leif ran his fingers through his hair, which was still relatively short and its usual flame orange hue. He reached out for the mirror and found his fingers to be solid. Finally he pulled down at his shirt's collar and found his neck free of slash marks. With his trio of concerns put to rest, he sighed and then took a deep breath. A rather dry voice asked, "What death wish do you have, exactly? Are you in the habit of waking people up at all hours?" He turned to see Nabiki, hair frazzled, in her pajamas, leaning against the doorframe. "It must have quite a good dream. You scream _exactly_ like a girl." She smiled. Leif scowled. "Out of my way." Nabiki grinned, stepped back, and bowed as both her hands gestured towards the staircase.


End file.
